(This column was first published in the March 12, 2001 Buffalo News.)
To everything there is a season, and a time
to every
purpose.
That lovely verse from Ecclesiastes has a special
meaning at this time of year. When I pause in writing this column, I can look
out my window on a winter landscape, snow piled on the bare limbs of leafless
trees, more falling to add to the depth, the only birds in evidence a few
finches and chickadees scratching for feeder seeds and the ubiquitous
neighborhood crows. It is a bleak time, yes, but some of those snow-covered
trees are budding and remarkably the bird migration season is already underway.
Spring, thank goodness, is just around the corner.
Flocks of migrating blackbirds are being seen and many
of the male ducks along our river and lake shorelines are displaying before
prospective mates. Testosterone is flowing and migration pressure is heating
up.
The driving forces behind migration are not well
understood but we do know, from records gathered over many years, that birds
arrive on fixed schedules. Those swallows of Capistrano are not the only
finely-tuned migrants. I share with you here some of those schedules, the
approximate dates drawn from Beardslee and Mitchell's Birds of the
Niagara Frontier.(The Buffalo Ornithological Society is currently
preparing a more detailed date reference.)
I mention first, because many observers still go to
see them there, the timing of peak Canada goose numbers -- often over 100,000
-- at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. According to refuge biologist Paul
Hess the best dates are usually the last week of March or the first week of
April. At that time there are 5,000 to 10,000 ducks as well. It is difficult to
realize that 50 years ago Canada geese were uncommon.
Later at Iroquois, each Saturday afternoon from April
7 to May 28 a buffalo Audubon Society project will provide telescope views
of waterfowl at the
Cayuga Pool overlook on Route 77 as well as driving tours, nature walks and, on
some evenings, "owl prowls".
Here then are the dates when many other species will
return:
March
11-20 Tundra Swan, Northern Pintail, Redhead, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin,
Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird
March
21-30 Great Blue Heron, Snow Goose, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern
Shoveler, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser,
Ruddy Duck, Northern Harrier, Killdeer, American Woodcock, Fox Sparrow, Eastern
Meadowlark, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch
April
1-10 Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Turkey Vulture, Green-winged Teal,
Blue-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Cooper's Hawk, American Coot, Greater
Yellowlegs, Common Snipe, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern
Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Tree Swallow, Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush
April 11-20
American Bittern, Wood Duck, Osprey, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Pine Warbler, Field
Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow
April
21-30 Double-crested Cormorant, Lesser Yellowlegs, Blue-headed Vireo, Purple
Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Brown Thrasher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Chipping
Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow
May 1-10
Green Heron, Virginia Rail, Sora, Common Moorhen, Spotted Sandpiper, Black
Tern, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Least Flycatcher,
Yellow-throated Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Bank Swallow, House Wren, Wood Thrush,
Gray Catbird, Golden-winged Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Nashville Warbler,
Yellow Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated
Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler,
Prothonotary Warbler, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat,
Hooded Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Bobolink, Baltimore Oriole, American
Goldfinch
May
11-20 Least Bittern, Semipalmated Plover, Black-billed Cuckoo, Great Crested
Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Marsh Wren, Blue-winged Warbler,
Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, American
Redstart, Mourning Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Canada Warbler, Scarlet Tanager,
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting
May
21-30 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Willow Flycatcher, Blackpoll Warbler
By then, of course, it will be a different world
entirely.-- Gerry Rising