Red Letter Days for Fall Bird Migration by Michael Valliant
Delmarva is designed for birds migrating in the fall. Whether it’s songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, or raptors, they stop here on their way south for the winter. We are in the right place, at the right time, with the right conditions. Birding enthusiast, Dr. Wayne Bell, says of birding on the Eastern Shore, “Any day is a red letter day.” I have a thing for songbirds ~ warblers in particular. I’m not alone. Books have been written just about warblers; classes have been taught on warbler identification, and to learn their songs. I am not a technical or academic book reader. To pull me in, I need a story, lyrical language, something. Merrill Gilfillan’s book, The Warbler Road makes me want to go walk through the woods, primed for warblers. “When I walk out with binoculars in May and September, it is often the fly fisherman in Yeats’s poem I have in mind as I move along the path,” Gilfillan writes. “We are both out to discover and authenticate the morning, to break the glaze of habitude and mark, for an hour or so, the weave and fine points of the season and its day-in-place.”
By being outside and mindful of the birds around us, we become more alive in the present moment. Warblers and other migrating songbirds come through most heavily from mid-August through midSeptember, going through mid-October. Songbirds are colorful and get people buzzing when they are found. Flycatchers are sought after finds, along the lines of warblers. The Eastern Shore also has its resident songbirds ~ cardinals and blue jays and other winter residents. One of the best places locally to 41