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Quiet
By Lauretta Young

What a difference a week makes in the activity and sound level in my yard. Two weeks ago, as I was weeding or working in the yard, I worried that I would be impaled by the vigorously flying Rufous Hummingbirds as they frantically checked flowers and the feeder for food, as they chased each other around the yard, and as they performed amazing feats of aerial jousting. They flared their tails, they make loud aggressive sounds, and they buzzed past my head with rapid wing beats which often grazed my body. Truly I thought they might run into me. Unfortunately one did smash into a window which was a terminal event.

This past week all the Rufous Hummingbirds have departed for their winter retreat in the southern parts of the US and into Mexico and Central America. It’s been 90° in Cedar Mill over the past week, and yet the days are getting shorter, the flowers are winding down, and I imagine the natural food sources are less lush. It is still a scientific mystery about exactly what triggers migration activity. The Rufous hummer males left about a month ago, so all that were left in our yards were females. Other birds have not yet started to migrate. American Goldfinches are some of the last to leave—possibly because they are seed-eaters, not nectar-feeders.

It’s really quiet out in the yard now, after all the flying and chattering frenzy of the pre-migration hummingbird “show.” I had guests over, who were totally entranced by the dozen or so birds performing their aerobatic feats. At this point, just a week later, the yard is almost devoid of bird sounds. There is no need to stake out territory for nests—which is part of the reason for many of the spring bird songs. We have not heard the Black Headed Grosbeak songs since late June. The juvenile birds are self-sufficient, so we are not hearing the incessant “baby” begging sounds we heard last month from the numerous juveniles. It was a good year for the Bewick’s wrens, the Downy Woodpeckers, and the Spotted Towhees. We also had one set of Quails with about 20 chicks!

Within a month or so, we will have more bird sounds as the ducks arrive to overwinter here. We will start to hear the familiar sounds of Pintails, Shovelers, and other ducks who bred in the north in the summer. Many of us who live in climate-controlled buildings and rush outside only to get into vehicles miss the changes in the natural world that remind us of the seasons. Seasons bring changes for humans too—fall might be a season to be “quiet” after the intense growth and warmth of the summer. Part of what I love about going outside is to reconnect with myself as part of nature—not part of glass and concrete and metal that doesn’t change. There are seasons if we look.

Lauretta Young MD is the current chief medical officer for Health Republic Insurance—a “real” non-profit whose mission is health. She also owns a small birdwatching customized tour business and takes clients out to learn about mindful bird watching and listening in Cedar Mill and beyond—portlandbirdwatching.com. See more of her husband’s photos at flickr.com/photos/youngbirders.

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