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south.
Gradually the mysteries of migration are revealed. Much is unknown and perhaps unknowable. An older bird, one that made the trip north in spring, will leave before the young ones hatched in May or June leave the nesting area. How do the younger ones know, when to leave and what route to take?
Why make this long, hazardous flight at night? During daylight predators are watchful and ready to pluck birds out of the air.
Birds aiming for the tropics follow many paths. The two grosbeaks outside my window were taking a leisurely inland route and will, no doubt, take off from Florida and island-hop to their tropical destination. This slower, unhurried southerly movement is characteristic of early stages of fall migration.
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks only breed on the upper reaches of Virginia mountains, above 2,500 feet. Had the two I saw nested on a high slope, and first made their way to lower altitudes before moving south? Or had they concluded the reproduction cycle in some laurel thicket in Maine? I don’t know the answer; I delight in what I don’t know regarding birds. The mystery delights me.
Bird migration is an awesome annual adventure. Maybe I am ready to “yield with grace....and accept the end of...a season,” after all.
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