Monarchs are on the Move! Birds, too!

    We started seeing Monarchs heading south about a week ago, here and there, but over the weekend we started seeing them more consistently, even groups of three or more. Yesterday, where ever I was in town or at home, all I had to do was look up and I was guaranteed to see Monarchs heading south, just a constant stream of orange and black. My parents, who live north of us, also reported seeing them in a constant stream across the sky. Always about the same altitude, never coming down to feed, just floating away. That's why I don't have any photos, it would just be a black spot against a washed out sky, if that even. If I didn't look up, I'd probably miss them.

   So if you're near Virginia or further south, start looking! They're coming your way!

   A birding note...we've also had some nonstandard birds in the yard, a Pee-Wee spent the afternoon hunting from the tips of our hawthorn trees, some warblers (probably Pine) have been passing through the treetops, and a Red Shouldered Hawk has been heard calling (they're very vocal!) at the pond across the street several times. Another winter visitor, a Brown Headed Nuthatch, has been heard in the pines on the golf course. We hear it every year but rarely see it. One lucky winter we had a pair of Brown Headed Nuthatches come to our feeders regularly, but they seem to spend most their time in the pines.