The incomprehensible, indescribable phenomena of fall bird (and butterfly) migration is underway. Every night now, hundreds of thousands of songbirds are flying overhead, silently. They migrate at night to avoid predation in daylight by hawks. Last night (Friday) 183,300 flew over Oconee County, a quiet night in comparison to some others this week. How do I know this? Click here and find out. https://birdcast.info/. You can find out how many birds are flying over your head at night no matter where you live. The hawk migration is just getting started. International Hawk Migration Week starts today, Saturday. Here’s a link to learn more about it. https://www.hmana.org/international-hawk-migration-week/. In our neck of the woods, or skies I should say, hawks are counted daily at Sassafras Mountain and Caesar’s Head State Park. Here’s how to keep up with the number of hawks being seen and recorded daily at Caesar’s Head. https://hawkcount.org/month_summary.php?rsite=551. So eyes up, everyone. No telling what you’ll see this time of year.
SWIMMERS REPORT. Sunrise swims are getting challenging, but still doable. It takes some grit. On the other hand, 4pm is the magic hour for Jocassee immersion. The warmest time of day, this week in the low 80’s, makes for a near transcendent experience. If you’re a Jocassee swimmer, you know exactly what I mean.