OCTOBER NATURE HAPPENINGS
• Mid-October brings the greatest variety of migrating raptors. Golden Eagles, Peregrine Falcons and Merlin’s can be sighted. Broad-winged Hawks are gone by end of the month.
•Sharp-shinned Hawk population increases dramatically from northern migration. Look for them along road sides and hanging out at your bird feeders.
• Most Wood Ducks begin to migrate south this month, but a few stay to over winter in Eastern part of the state.
• Green-winged Teals and Pied-billed Grebes are migrating south, look for them at Abrams Creek, Lake Frederick, and farm ponds.
• Last of the Chimney Swifts will leave at the beginning of the month.
• Merlin, a pigeon-sized falcon from Canada, is migrating through the area headed south. Merlin’s will be found scanning open areas from treetops. Look for them at Blandy Farm, Abrams Creek Wetlands, and Lake Frederick
.• Purple finches arrive and will be attracted to finch feeders.
• Fox Sparrows, Lincoln Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows may be seen under feeders scratching through litter during their autumn migration.
• Blue-headed Vireos are traveling through to their wintering grounds. Look for them in coniferous habitats foraging for insects. Wood Duck
• Orange-crowned, Tennessee, and Black and White Warblers are migrating to their wintering grounds, look for them in deciduous forests gleaning for insects.
• Lapland Longspur, a common arctic tundra bird is sometimes found wintering in pastures and open grasslands foraging for insects and seeds.
• Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, House wrens, Catbirds and Tree swallows have departed by the end of the month.
• Juncos, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows become common under the feeders towards the end of the month, migrating from their northern breeding habitats.
• Look for Rufous Hummingbirds to arrive in Maryland and Virginia, keep your feeders up through December!
• This is the month to install and repair nest boxes for use next year. This is a very good time to clean out Purple Martin houses.
• Keep nesting boxes up for cavity-dwelling birds to roost during the upcoming colder nights and inclement weather.
• Goldenrods, Asters, Bonesets and Blazing Stars are in bloom.
• White-tailed Deer bucks go into rut and are moving, keep a watchful eye along the highways.
• Squirrels are working at an insane level right now caching acorns and other tree nuts for theupcoming winter.
• Groundhogs are feeding profusely in preparation for hibernation.
• Virginia bats are either migrating south for the winter or seeking shelter in surrounding caves to hibernate.
• Cankerworms are emerging from their cocoons as adult moths eager to mate. Females will lay clusters of barrel-shaped eggs on branches, which will hatch in the spring.
• Spider webs are EVERYWHERE. Female spiders are preparing to lay eggs which will hatch in the springtime. Don’t destroy their webs as they are a natural insect removal system catching and eliminating vast amounts of insects including the stinkbug! Want an educational book for the children? E.B.Whites book Charlotte’s Web was release 68 years ago this month.
• Live in the mountains? Rattlesnakes are slithering together to form communal hibernation knots in rock outcroppings and borrows to escape the cold winter.
• Beavers are very active in the evenings while caching a winter supply of food.
SPECIAL DATES
• October 1, Full Moon, called the "Hunters Moon", this is the month when the leaves are falling and the game is fattened. Now is the time for hunting and lying in a store of provisions for the long winter ahead.
• October 2-4, Cape May Fall Festival, Cape May, NJ. Check out the longest running birding festival in America. For more information go to: https://njaudubon.org/nja-events/cape-may-fall-festival/
• October 7, Draconids Meteor Shower, best time to view – early evening.
• October 16, New Moon.
• October 19, First Frost Prediction for Winchester Area.
• October 21 – 22, Orionids Meteor Shower, best viewing time is after midnight.
• October 15 – 25, Autumn colors peak. Go to: https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/
• October 31, Full Moon, this full moon is call the Blue Moon, or a full moon that occurs twice in the same month, and this is where we get the phrase “…once in a blue moon”.
• Halloween, October 31. Birds associated with Halloween throughout history are: Raven, Crow, Vultures and the Barn Owl.
INTERESTING HISTORICAL DATES
• October 2, 1968, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act signed into law.
• October 4, 1181, Birthdate of St. Francis of Assisi.
• October 7, 1923, Birth of the Appalachian Trail.
• October 12, 1492, after 33 days of sailing, Christopher Columbus lands on the beaches of the Bahamas.
• October 15, 1952, Charlotte’s Web released by E.B.White. Good “spider –friendly” read for the children.
• October 18, 1972, Clean Air Act signed into law.
• October 25, 1900, Lacey Act Signed into law.
• October 27, 1858, Theodore Roosevelts Birthdate.