ALWAYS IN SEASON: The word for late September birding is anticipation

Suezette and I were at home Friday, and at the end of the day, she said, “I only saw one bird today.”

Another birder told me he’d seen only flickers for several days. Pressed, he admitted to exaggeration, but clearly, he said, the number and variety of birds are down.

So, too, a regular correspondent wrote to say it’s beginning to look a lot like winter. Only chickadees are showing up regularly at his feeders, although a blue jay cruises in now and again.

Well, it is true that late September can be a slow time for birds.

Most of the nesting songbirds have moved away. A hummingbird that I was tracking showed up for the last time Monday, not unusually late, I know because others had hummingbirds Tuesday.

Despite the relative scarcity of birds, late September does have interest for bird lovers. There are enormous flocks of blackbirds, who seemed to space themselves perfectly both in flight and at rest on overhead wires.

Numbers of hawks continue to build. Red-tailed hawks remain abundant in open country. For the past week or so, I’ve noticed an increased number of merlins — a couple of them at least are frequently shelterbelts near our place west of Gilby, N.D.

It must be admitted, however, that the chief appeal of late September in the bird world is anticipation. The real wonders lie ahead.

Early October should bring the vanguard of waterfowl migration into our area. Although the Red River Valley is at the eastern edge of today’s waterfowl migration corridors, good numbers of geese and ducks will pass through, in successive waves on some days.

The valley also attracts migrating swans, although not as stop as in the spring, when this is a major staging area for swans. Still shallow wetlands in the area on either side of the valley will draw migrating swans.

It used to be that Stump Lake drew tens of thousands of migrating swans. But the lake has risen many feet, making it less attractive to swans, who depend on being able to reach the bottom and whose long necks extend only so far.

Stump Lake is south of Lakota, N.D., about 60 miles due west of Grand Forks. It’s the southeastern most of the Devils Lake complex.

The Devils Lake area attracts a wide array of migrating waterfowl. Another good waterfowl spot is Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Thief River Falls, just over an hour’s drive from Grand Forks.

Both Agassiz and Devils Lake are excellent for migrating eagles, as well. Concentrations around Devils Lake can reach into the hundreds in mid-November, just about the time the lake freezes over.

The Red River itself attracts migrating eagles, which seem to use the river’s course as a kind of highway and the giant cottonwood trees along the banks as the equivalent of rest stops.

November also brings the yearly influx of snowy owls, sometimes hundreds, sometimes only a few. The area just northwest of Grand Forks is probably the most dependable area for snowy owls in the lower 48 states, although Logan Airport in Boston Harbor is a famous snowy owl-spotting place, as well.

Early winter sometimes brings a rush of other northern owls, as well, primarily to northern Minnesota. Great gray owls are regular, though not numerous, in the area north of Roseau, and northern hawk owls show up some years, too.

Of course, December brings the annual Christmas Bird Counts — always a time of surprises for local birders. Something interesting always turns up, and sometimes something unexpected.

As for Suezette’s Friday bird: “It was a small brown bird,” she said.

This is not a very helpful description — but perhaps her bird was one of a suite of sparrows that will pass through the area as October moves along.

The sparrows are subtly beautiful birds, and a challenge for identification. They, too, are eagerly anticipated, for the satisfaction of naming them correctly — and the reassurance that no doubt the season is progressing as it should.

Jacobs is publisher and editor of the Herald. His column about birds appears Sundays on the Outdoors pages.