September is prime migration month, when all manner of birds — songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, water fowl — are heading south for the winter. Over the next several weeks, you can see at least a part of this great natural spectacle at various locations around Georgia.
A particularly good place is the riverside trail in the Cochran Shoals unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, where several Atlanta Audubon Society members spent two consecutive mornings last weekend catching glimpses of early fall migrants.
Most of the southbound travelers were foraging in tree canopies and mingling with resident, nonmigratory birds such as cardinals and chickadees.
Most notable during the first morning walk was the appearance of 10 warbler species. Next morning, when I was one of the birders, a highlight was four Baltimore orioles (two adult males, an adult female and an immature female) foraging at the top of a leafy sycamore tree.
The "show" will only get better as fall migration progresses to a peak in late September. Atlanta Audubon has some 30 bird walks — free and open to the public — scheduled through October across the metro area to see fall migrants and other birds. For times and locations, visit atlantaaudubon.org.
You don’t have to go far from home, though, to witness fall migration. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are stopping at backyard feeders to fatten up for their arduous trek to winter homes in Mexico and Central America. Common nighthawks and chimney swifts are flitting about over our neighborhoods, gobbling up flying insects and gathering in flocks to head as far south as Peru and Chile for the winter.
But, while dozens of species will be leaving Georgia for southern climes, they will be supplanted by our “winter birds” coming in from up North to spend the season here. They include ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets; several sparrow species; yellow-bellied sapsuckers; cedar waxwings; yellow-rumped warblers; blue-headed vireos; winter wrens; and others.
In the sky: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be first-quarter Friday. Venus is low in the west and Mars and Saturn are in the southwest around nightfall. Mercury and Jupiter are not easily seen right now.
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