The hot, penetrating late-summer sun of August may make some of us wish for the cooling breezes of autumn. Relief seems so far off. Yet, at this time, the birds and other creatures are already aware of the coming changes. Daylight hours are getting shorter, which begins to trigger changes in their routines. Soon we won't hear birds calling at dawn as they did while nesting. In fact near the end of August and into September, an almost eerie silence greets us on some days. 

     Many species of shorebirds have already migrated into Virginia coastal waters from the Arctic. Blue-winged teal are already on the move. Ecuador is a long trip and they must start early. Swarms of blackbirds engulf the grain fields by day, and the marshes and groves of tall trees along rivers at night. Martins and swallows line the wires-preening, resting, and chattering in anticipation of their long flights. This is also a time when you might see migrating nighthawks during daylight hours, flying in very loose, spread-out groups, feeding as they go. Sumac and sweet gum begin to show touches of red, especially in the swamps, and yellow poplar begins to turn yellow. Elderberry bushes are heavy with fruit.

     August often brings the first cool nights, as the sun has fewer hours to heat the ground. An occasional Canadian cool front brings drier, clearer air, which helps the earth to cool faster at night. Temperatures on some mornings may be in the 50s or even the 40s, giving us a hint of the coming season. Swallows and martins begin staging for migration at this time. Young of the year inflate populations to large numbers, and they gather almost anywhere they can sit together. Hundreds of martins and swallows sit on utility wires, TV antennas, or in dead trees. Many will sit facing the same way-usually into the wind, like rigid little soldiers in formation. From a distance, the many wires full of birds leading to a central point in the form of a pole, resembles some sort of a giant, beaded necklace or a massive spider web covered with dewdrops. Often on cool mornings, they sit on the roofs of houses or barns, soaking up heat that had been absorbed during the previous day. On cooler days they are also drawn to heat rising from paved roads, as are the insects on which they feed.

     Actually, martins begin leaving Virginia as early as the first week of August. They are insect eaters and most will fly to the Gulf then move westerly and south following the land mass into Mexico and Central America, with some going on to South America. Many of the swallows are young birds, able to fly but still being fed by the parents. An adult barn swallow approaches the wire and pops some food into the mouth of a young bird with its wings fluttering weakly. Young tree swallows are recognizable by their brown upper parts and white undersides. The greenish coloration of adulthood will develop on their wintering grounds in the Gulf States and Mexico. All day long, they feed, hedge hopping, swooping, and diving-catching insects to keep their streamlined little bodies operating. Once the migration begins, they feed and meander southward. What may look like the same bunch of birds circling and feeding, is actually a mass flock that may not be detectable unless you follow individual birds as they twist and swoop in wide arcs, but slowly move out of sight in a southerly direction.

     Martins are still present into late September as northern breeding birds continue to move through. Tree swallows may be present into late October and barn swallows may still be around the coast well into November. It's hot and humid now, but soon we will begin to notice the first hints of autumn. 

© 2001 Carl C. Knuth All rights reserved.