What's The Big Deal About Spring Migration?

If you ask a birder what their favorite time of year is probably spring would be the most popular because of spring migration. So what's the big deal about the spring migration?   

Every spring neotropical migrants travel thousands of miles to reach their spring destination. Some are just passing though and some are here for the nesting season. You won't see most of these birds at your feeders too often. They are high in the trees and sometimes low in the brush in areas that have the proper habitat.

Many of them are very colorful with intricate patterns like the Prairie Warbler seen above.

You might attract a Scarlet Tanager with  halved oranges, raisins or mealworms on a platform feeder if you're lucky. They'll also visit a birdbath. Orioles seem more abundant so you might have better luck attracting them with grape jelly or oranges.

Besides the colorful, bird there is another thing that appeals to birders in the spring. Some of these warblers present a challenge to find. The Cerulean Warbler seen here is an endangered species in Connecticut and not easy to find. it seems to me that their numbers have increased a little recently.

So if you have a pair of binoculars you might want to break them out and start checking out the treetops early in the morning. You might be surprised at what you find!