Many things signal the changing seasons and not everyone is effected by the same event or events. The majority of us recognize fall’s approach when we notice the tree leaves beginning to change color. Cooler morning temperatures remind us that the season’s first frost isn’t far off. Birders mark the seasons by the changing bird population.
Rufous hummingbirds started moving south several weeks ago. That raspy sucking sound that is being heard in the trees and bushes is the call of the Annas claiming territories the two argued over all summer.
Seasonal reminders are even more pronounced on the marine waters. Heermann’s gulls, parasitic jaegers and the terns arrive in late August. Their numbers build into September and then most continue south for the winter. They are migrants that announce summer’s ending while other marine species emphasize fall’s arrival.
When the American wigeon begin to show up, summer is over. Even the double-crested cormorants returning to the inland waters don’t announce fall as the wigeon do. The first cormorants showing up on our bays and in our harbors are this year’s young. It will be awhile before the adults that nested along the coast or in the northern waters will join them.
In addition to the wigeon, another marine species always tells me that fall has arrived. The first small horned grebe that will just appear one morning emphasizes that there is no more hanging onto summer. Give it up and put away the outdoor furniture. That hasn’t happened yet, but I’m sure there are red-necked grebes being seen farther offshore. They usually arrive early enough to still retain some of their breeding colors.
The birds that signal fall to birders can vary from one region to another. Flying wedges of Canada geese dotting the skies over the eastern portion of the state carry fall on wings that push summer southward. Even on the western side there are migratory routes for the geese. In a few short weeks they will settle in on west side refuges and large tracts of private farmland. Snow geese will flock to the fields in Skagit County. Sandhill cranes gather for the winter at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in the southwest corner of this state. Trumpeter swans, tundra swans and millions of ducks flood into these protected havens where they will spend the winter.
Turkey vultures also have started their southward migration and the farther south you travel at this time of the year, the more vultures you will see. From southwest Oregon into coastal California, the numbers of turkey vultures wending their way to southern California and Mexico are amazing to watch.
Autumn is still in the beginning phase, but the signs are all around us and they exist in northern climes all over the world. While these thoughts of birds signaling the seasonal changes were wandering about in my head, I happened to pick up a magazine in a waiting room. It was one I’d never seen before and published in Great Britain. Fall was the issue’s current focus and one writer mentioned a bird he looks for every year about now. When the woodcock, a close relative of our common snipe, puts in an appearance it tells him that fall is here. Its arrival coincides with the coming of Halloween.
When it comes to the birds that signal summer’s demise and fall’s arrival, it’s time to start looking for them. I know that some of you have already spotted the wigeon.
Write to Joan Carson, PO Box 217, Poulsbo, WA 98370. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a reply. Or email joanpcarson@comcast.net.
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