The first stage of bird migration

The human calendar recently turned over to one last month of summer but the "calendar" that most birds follow is telling them something different. Although our Adirondack summer has been soggy at best we're now enjoying a warmer and drier August. The birds filtering through the Adirondack woodlands these days are sensing another need. Last night I heard a distant series of call notes from a shorebird(sandpiper-like birds) and many warblers passing overhead on a southward journey.
It's migration time for birds.
There are stirrings, feelings of necessity in the bird world. After a recent gentle rain I found the feeding activity had cranked up a notch in the surrounding trees where I live. Young birds are practicing their feeding skills on whatever caterpillar, moth, or spider they can find on the leaves. The adult birds are fending for themselves. This morning the bustling birds are still in a feeding frenzy.
All this to fatten-up!
The summer birds of the Adirondacks are just that...summer residents breeding in our forests, wetlands, and fields. Our plans to escape a winter involve the dependence on technology and money. Birds require the physical abilities that they've mastered for million of years....flight. But to fuel this flight fat is important. So over the next two months keep an eye out for the feverishly feeding warblers, sparrows, finches, and all the other migratory birds that are passing through the Adirondacks on the first stage of their "migratory tour de force".
-Brian McAllister