Re: birding in August?

> Hello, BirdChatters.
>
> I've been enjoying the discussion about birding in August.
>
> As Gordon Bonnet  says:
>
>> I know a lot of the local birding activity (I'm in
>> upstate New York) has died down by August -- picks
>> up again in mid-September with migration.
>
> For sure, that's the conventional wisdom. Over the years, though,  
> I've come to view the month of August as the most exciting in mid-
> latitude North America. Seriously. Birding in the month of August  
> is, in a word, dynamic. Sure, it's awesome in southeastern Arizona,  
> as several BirdChatters have noted. But it's truly exciting pretty  
> much everywhere across the Lower 48.
>
> Here are 5 things that are especially exciting about birding in  
> August:
>
> 1. Juveniles. If you want a cutting-edge ID challenge, try recently  
> fledged juveniles. These birds are out of the nest, they can fly,  
> and they're more-or-less independent. Something as "easy" as a  
> Mountain Bluebird or Western Tanager can be surprisingly hard to  
> identify in August. If ID challenges aren't your thing (which is  
> fine), there's the whole other angle of the fascinating biology of  
> juveniles. It is well worth the effort to really pay attention to  
> young Red-winged Blackbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, whatever.
>
> 2. Molt. All birds do it, and most North American birds are doing  
> it, to some extent or another, in the month of August. (All of our  
> breeding birds, I believe, have a "prebasic," or fall, molt.) As  
> with juveniles, molt can present both an ID challenge and the  
> opportunity to observe fascinating biology in action. If you want a  
> "point of entry," so to speak, into the world of molt, check out  
> all those male ducks in August. Or how about grebes? I wonder how  
> many U.S. birders are aware that many grebes are flightless--in  
> connection with molt--during much of the summer. I sure didn't know  
> that until fairly recently.
>
> 3. Zugunruhe. It's a goofy word, but it's a really interesting  
> phenomenon. The German, translated very loosely, comes out in  
> English to "migratory restlessness." Prior to migration, many birds  
> get fidgety, and this fidgetiness is easy to observe. In Colorado,  
> for example, I've noticed a sharp increase in the number of flight  
> calls given by Swainson's Thrushes and Veeries while still on the  
> breeding grounds--after they've stopped singing, yet prior to  
> migration. The August woods are alive with the flight calls of  
> these and other species getting ready to migrate.
>
> 4. Nighttime. Many landbird species are on the move in August--even  
> in July--and you can hear them at night. In Colorado, there are  
> strong nighttime flights in August of Chipping Sparrows, Lark  
> Sparrows, and Yellow Warblers. In fact, we get our heaviest night  
> flights, it seems, in the last week of August, with decent  
> nocturnal passages as early as late July. I love going out on hot  
> August nights and hearing the chips and buzzes of invisible  
> migrants in the dark.
>
> 5. Shorebirds! Even for avowed dicky-bird types like myself, the  
> August shorebird flight across North America is a thing of wonder.  
> You can witness this phenomenon practically anywhere: in big cities  
> like New York and Chicago, at our national wildlife refuges, in  
> deserts and grasslands, you name it. Our August shorebird flight  
> has it all: ID challenges, if you want that; great biology for  
> anybody to observe; and always the potential of some outlandish  
> rarity.
>
> One final thought, if I may. I guess this would be #6.
>
> 6. Lots of birds. My guess is there are more birds in North America  
> in August than in any other month of the year. (Because of all the  
> juveniles; they haven't died yet, as so many will, on fall  
> migration and on the wintering grounds.) Just walk outside your  
> house, wherever it is, and start looking and listening. Birds are  
> conspicuous in August, they're doing fascinating things, and there  
> are so many of them.
>
> Ted Floyd
> tedfloyd57@...
> Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
>
> -------------------------------
>
> Ted Floyd
> Editor, Birding
>
> -------------------------------
>
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