What are you doing on
Saturday morning, April 20th? Join us for a Bird Watcher Supply/Atlanta Audubon Society bird walk at the GWF Mill Creek Nature Center! Our own Karen Theodorou, along with master birder Kelly Floress, will be leading a walk through the wetlands behind our Buford store at 1999 Mall of Georgia Blvd. The walk is not strenous, but there is a set of steep stairs, so strollers are not recommended. Also, the trails are not paved, so if it's been raining, expect mud. Meet in the Bird Watcher parking area by 8am. The walk should run about two hours. Please do not park in the gravel area because the Georgia Wildlife Federation will be setting up for their Earth Day Events, to which you are also invited!
If you can't make it Saturday, Atlanta Audubon has a full schedule of other bird walks at local hotspots. You do not need to be a member to participate, and they are free! See/hear a variety of neotropical migrants like
Scarlet Tanagers,
Wood Thrushes,
Blue Grosbeaks, numerous warblers and much more!
Click here for a complete list of upcoming field trips.
Are you seeing
Ruby-throats at your feeders? Many of you ask why are there not more hummers in the spring. Spring migration is very different from fall migration. In spring, birds are in a much bigger hurry - males to claim a territory, females to find the perfect nesting sites. And they've already crossed the Gulf of Mexico, so they don't have to put on as much weight to make the shorter trips as they migrate north, and they don't "tank up" at feeders like they do in late summer. Here's a simple schedule to help you understand
Ruby-throat migration:March and April - Ruby-throats migrate through the southeast. Some stay and breed locally, but most are just passing through. Local birds will start breeding in April.
May and June - Migration is over. These tend to be very slow months at our feeders because females are busy nesting and feeding young, and males are guarding territory. Neither will wander very far, so unless they are nesting in your yard or nearby, you may not see them much. But keep your feeders up and fresh for the occasional visitor.
July, August, September - Our peak months! Post-breeding dispersal - young birds leave nests and adult males start migrating south, followed by females weeks later (most females nest twice). But they're not in a hurry. They need to put on fat to migrate across the Gulf, so they tank up at our feeders in numbers! More feeders = more hummers.
October - Numbers decrease throughout the month, but leave feeders up! You could have some Ruby-throat stragglers or western hummers returning to winter here!
