{"id":11402,"date":"2023-10-06T13:29:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T17:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/?p=11402"},"modified":"2024-05-09T19:18:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T23:18:27","slug":"the-backyard-birders-fall-migration-2023-checklist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/the-backyard-birders-fall-migration-2023-checklist\/","title":{"rendered":"The Backyard Birder&#8217;s Fall Migration 2023 Checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keep your Backyard Bird Airbnb ready for guests!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tips and advice for Backyard Birders on making the most of Fall Migration while supporting  migrants heading south.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>#1 in your Fall Migration 2023 Checklist: Water is KEY! Maintaining a bird bath during Fall Migration is a great opportunity to attract an unusual guest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Fall Migration 2023 continues! &nbsp;Keep your&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/water-backyard-bird-habitat\/\">bird baths<\/a>&nbsp;clean and filled&nbsp;<\/strong>with fresh water to lure in beautiful Fall migrants as they head south. These are mostly non-seed eaters, but water is essential to all wild birds and will encourage them to hang out and rest a bit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Leave the leaves!&nbsp; Very important item on your Fall Migration 2023 Checklist! <\/strong>Doing less yard work is good for you, but ESSENTIAL for your backyard habitat. By not raking (and especially NOT BLOWING) all the leaves out of your yard, you will:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Preserve food and shelter for countless wintering birds, butterflies, fireflies and more.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nurture the critical food source that birds will feed their developing nestlings come Spring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And meanwhile, also avoid the hassle and expense of hauling mulch to your yard!<br>There are more reasons to keep them and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mygreenmontgomery.org\/2021\/five-great-ways-to-use-fall-leaves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more ways to use them<\/a>&nbsp;than we can list here!&nbsp;<br>By just doing NOTHING, we can all make a difference, backyard by backyard!!!&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.nwf.org\/2014\/11\/what-to-do-with-fallen-leaves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read more here<\/a>&nbsp;on the&nbsp;<strong>National Wildlife Federation<\/strong>&nbsp;website.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Devote yourself to #2 on your Fall Migration 2023 Checklist!<\/strong>  When it&#8217;s time for your Spring Migration 2024 Checklist, you&#8217;ll be thanking yourself for a job well (un)done!  Enjoy your Summer bonus, too! By leaving the leaves (and giving all the creatures who need them a chance to survive and thrive), you&#8217;re likely to see more lightning bugs this summer! Joy!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\">\n<li>Hummingbirds are on the move and your feeders are supporting Hummingbirds passing through!&nbsp;<strong>Keep feeders clean and filled with fresh nectar.<\/strong> <br>Leave your Hummingbird feeders up at least&nbsp;<strong>two weeks after<\/strong>&nbsp;your last sighting\u2014even through Halloween. This&nbsp;<strong>Will NOT<\/strong> keep your Hummers from migrating, we promise! Any visitors now need to keep bulking up en route during their&nbsp;incredibly long journey ahead!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Goldfinches (and their newly-hatched broods) are active, too!&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;Remember, juveniles are the squeaky ones learning to navigate your&nbsp;<strong>nyjer feeders!&nbsp;<\/strong>In addition to nyjer, also discovering the tastiness of&nbsp;<strong>hulled sunflower kernels<\/strong>. With an&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/portfolio-items\/tails-up-upside-down-thistle-tube-feeder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Upside Down Feeder<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;filled with our&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/portfolio-items\/wild-bird-seeds-suets-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Finch Favorite<\/a>&nbsp;blend<\/strong>, support your Finches and deny access to other birds like pesky and abundant House Sparrows.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t deadhead the flowers in your garden!<\/strong>&nbsp;Goldfinches will do it for you and it is pure joy to watch them in action.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clean out your bird houses<\/strong>&nbsp;to get them ready for winter roosting during bad weather.&nbsp;<strong>Chickadees, Carolina Wrens<\/strong> and&nbsp;<strong>Bluebirds&nbsp;<\/strong>will be particularly grateful!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Check the freshness of your bird seed!<\/strong>&nbsp;if your seed is left over from last winter because you don\u2019t feed during the summer,&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/portfolio-items\/wild-bird-seeds-suets-2\/\">it\u2019s time to buy fresh<\/a><\/strong>.&nbsp; Oils in seed go rancid over time and are unhealthy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clean your bird feeders!&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong>Now&#8217;s the time to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/resources\/best-quality-seed-wild-birds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">clean your feeders<\/a>&nbsp;and remove any moldy remains from our hot and humid summer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Water, again! Have you checked your bird bath yet? If your backyard bath is popular, you may need to refresh and refill more often during the &#8216;height of tourist season&#8217;. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>As our&nbsp;beloved Catbirds and Hummingbirds quietly slip away to migrate south, the&nbsp;good news is that it won&#8217;t be long before&nbsp;<strong>Juncos and White-throated Sparrows<\/strong>&nbsp;arrive to winter over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How&#8217;s your Fall Migration 2023 Checklist looking so far? Keep up the good work!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Birding during Fall Migration is awesome! Keep your field guides and binoculars handy for unusual sightings, because you never know who&#8217;s going to show up! Check out bird movement&nbsp;in real time with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/birdcast.info\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cornell Lab&#8217;s Birdcast migration tools<\/a>.&nbsp;Visit our dedicated&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/resources\/backyard-birders-guide-to-fall-migration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fall Migration resource page<\/a>&nbsp;for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bi-monthly Bird Walks with Pete Givan<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Join our wonderful&nbsp;<strong>Pete Givan<\/strong>&nbsp;on&nbsp;bi-monthly Bird Walks! Pete posts the time and place on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheBackyardNaturalistOlney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">our Facebook page!<\/a>&nbsp;Great photos, too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for supporting your backyard birds and all our efforts at The Backyard Naturalist.Happy Fall Migration!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Debi and Mike Klein &amp; The Backyard Naturalist Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fall Migration continues! #1 on your list:\u00a0Keep your\u00a0bird baths\u00a0clean and filled\u00a0with fresh water. It&#8217;s a great opportunity to lure in beautiful Fall migrants as they head south. Water daily for drinking and bathing is essential to all wild birds. As these migrants are mostly non-seed eaters, your bath will encourage them to hang out and rest a bit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":11403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-backyard-naturalist-store"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11402"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11408,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11402\/revisions\/11408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}