Monday, September 10, 2018

berries and migration

Was in Shelburne over the weekend. Saturday was a sunny day with the wind blowing from the north.  Some of us hiked Mt. Philo hoping to see some raptors heading south for the winter. The wildflowers of May have turned into the berries of September, and we saw some on the way up.


Someone saw these along the trail. I didn't know what they were. A woman who grew on a farm in Vermont said they were the berries of jack-in-the pulpit.


Nobody knew what these were.

When we got to the top there were birders with binoculars, but we didn't see any raptors. One lady said she had seen over 100 during the day. We took the road out, and about halfway down, someone pointed out three large birds flying just above the treelike heading south. They were hawks! They few silently and purposefully. The urge to migrate must be very strong in these species as many travel literally thousands of miles every spring and fall. It is mysterious and compelling to observe this behavior in action.

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