Editor’s Note: This column first appeared in the Sept. 30, 2022, edition of the Harvard Press.
Fall is fast upon us and with it the migration of birds through our area. Those of you who feed birds throughout the summer may have noticed that some birds have already left. Probably the most noticeable are the hummingbirds. We have just one species of hummingbird, the ruby-throated, that visits and breeds in New England. There are more than 20 species of hummingbirds that visit other areas of the United States, with Arizona hosting the most species.
The warblers are moving south on their long trek to Central and South America. Hawks are also on the move now through October. It’s a good time of year to go to the hawk-watch spots on the top of Wachusett Mountain, Mount Watatic, or Pack Monadnock Mountain, where hawks take advantage of thermals created by the mountains. Each place has spotters recording numbers and species. Wachusett Mountain has averaged about 11,000 raptors a season since 1977. It is possible to see 15 species of raptors at these sites, with broad-winged and sharp-shinned being most abundant. Choose a nice sunny day with a north to northwest wind, grab your binoculars, a lawn chair, and lunch and wait for the show to pass by you.
Migrating nighthawks
Not so adventurous? Evenings are a good time to go out in your yard and see if you can spot the nighthawks that migrate through here at this time of year. They are fairly easy to spot as they are quite large, with long, pointed wings with white patches and a slightly forked tail.
On a recent visit to a friend in Napa, California, we saw lots of Anna’s hummingbirds. One had even nested on our friend’s outside spotlight. Her house sits on Atlas Peak, elevation 2,500 feet, which not only has wonderful views but is also high enough to have red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, with common vultures and black vultures cruising by at eye level. Due to the strong winds on the peak, a lot of the birds took advantage of the wind and were able to just hover, buoyed by the wind, for minutes at a time while searching the ground for food.
Leave your leaves
Back home, we are getting ready to put our perennial and vegetable gardens to rest. It is worth noting that it is far better to leave the leaves where they fall or put them in areas to the side of your yards because they carry the eggs and larvae of many beneficial insects and pollinators. We usually put several inches of leaves on our beds as this also helps maintain healthy soils without the need for fertilizers. Birds love scratching around in leaf litter for insects, since flying insects tend to decrease at this time of year.
We have started feeding the birds again after a hiatus during the summer, when there is plenty of natural food for them. The pastures and lawn that we don’t mow until late fall have provided food, by way of insects, for bluebirds, barn swallows, eastern phoebes, wood pewees, and even dragonflies.
Fireflies and feeders return
A few fireflies also returned, which we had not seen in years. Grapes have taken over the pasture edges and provide ample food for catbirds, robins, and even our neighbors. We also had a surprising amount of milkweed appear in the pastures, and those, along with Pam’s wonderful perennial beds, have attracted many monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Later on in November when some of these birds and insects have left, David will mow the fields to maintain an open meadow.
We feed the birds sunflower chips in a squirrel-proof feeder; Erikson wild bird mix (from Erikson Grain Mill, a family-owned business in South Acton) on a platform feeder; suet cakes; and Zick Dough for the six or so bluebirds we usually have all year.
Although it is not necessary to feed the birds (especially in the summer), we enjoy doing so in the winter as it brings them close to the house where we can enjoy them and observe any unusual ones that may visit.
David and Pam Durrant live and work at Micheldever Farm on East Bare Hill Road.
