“We are definitely in the midst of the busiest part of the migration season right now.”
Those are the words of Jim Knickelbine, Executive Director of Woodland Dunes Nature Center in Two Rivers.
Knickelbine tells Seehafer News “we’re seeing an awful lot of birds showing up (here), even a little earlier than usual. People are reporting orioles and hummingbirds, a lot of warblers, things like that which are in some instances a couple of weeks ahead of schedule.”
He explained that “some birds don’t travel very far south in their migration pattern”, using, for example, the redwing blackbirds and sandhill cranes going to places like Illinois to winter.
That being said, “others, especially the ones that come this time of year like orioles, hummingbirds, warblers, and vireos often spend the winter in Central and South America. Some of them fly right over the Gulf of Mexico in one shot, 24 hours.”
Knickelbine adds those birds typically rest up, feed, and fly north covering approximately 150 miles per night.
They migrate at night when there’s less wind resistance and arrive up here, usually around the middle of May.
But, he closed by saying they’re already coming in now.
