The arrival of August ushers in very interesting birding. The breeding season has scaled way back, and only a few prolific multi-brooded species are still making more birds. Most birds have finished with their nesting chores for the year and many are already on the move.
The birding has not been bad, especially on the waters surrounding the Cape and Islands, but it is about to improve greatly.
After the powerful storm systems and thunderstorms of this past week, mostly inland and north of us, the wind direction changed. Sadly, it was not to the northwest. The next time it does, it will be as if summer had turned to fall. Tree Swallows will start moving en masse, Monarch Butterflies will appear, and a wide variety of early landbird migrants will begin their journey south to the Neotropics for the cold months. I saw my first 4 Monarchs of the year on August first.
The first flights of southbound orioles, and several species of warblers, comprised mostly of yellow warblers, hit the region. The birding only gets better from now thru October with a constantly changing mix of species.
A phenomenon called post-breeding dispersal happens at this time of year. This involves many southern species of herons and terns that disperse northward after the breeding season, causing a bit of excitement for birders. There is typically a small influx of birds that do this in the month of August.
When the first of August arrives the birding really starts to take-off - pun intended. In fact, birds are beginning to show up all over the place, and the birding just keeps getting better from now through October. Most productive are the mudflats and sandbars that can be found at estuaries around the region. Southbound shorebird numbers are peaking now with adults. Their numbers will begin to decrease before immature, first-time migrant shorebirds start, which should be any time now.
Terns have finished nesting and departed nearby breeding colonies for areas closer to the best fishing. The terns get into a variety of plumages at this season and it is a great time to learn them. The juveniles look very different from the adults and the variation in bill and leg colors amongst a group of adults can be remarkable. All the salient field marks are variable. Studying terns as they molt from breeding to winter plumage is as educational a challenge as there is in birding. They are such beautiful and graceful birds that it is no hardship to look at them very closely noting the differences between individuals at this time of year.
Bird migration goes from a little to a lot by the end of the month. Gull numbers are beginning to build on beaches and their antics at removing food from unattended bags by beachgoers are not really very funny to watch. They learn quickly and continue to improve their bad habits.
This is a perfect time of year to do just about anything outside. As so many of us spend lots of time out in the natural world, disproportionately more birds are seen than in other months. With fishing being an activity that lends itself to looking for birds at the same time, any offshore fishing trip can be just as exciting for the birds one might encounter as for the marine life and actual game fish that may or may not be caught.
If you think you might like to try your hand at birding there is no time like the present. Get a hold of a pair of binoculars and start using them. Better yet - find someone who knows the birds and go out with them, you will learn even faster this way.
