The birds in our backyard

As the heat of summer gives way, various species of migratory birds are beginning to make their journey south for the winter, and many of them will use the woodlands of Long Island, including Hempstead Lake State Park, as a waypoint on their trip.

The South Shore Audubon Society met in the park late last month for one of its morning bird walks, which they rotate weekly among several nearby wildlife sites.

According to Bill Clifford, an Audubon Society member, bird-watching is easy enough. “A lot of the time,” he said, “you just look for movement in trees.”

On the first leg of the walk, looking to the trees was hardly necessary. Birds invaded the picnic area, perched on tables, benches and grills, and others on the ground hopped around and pecked for food.

The group stopped and peered through their binoculars at a bird perched nearby. “That’s a red-winged black bird on the table,” Clifford said, peering at a medium-sized bird perfectly described by its name. Even without binoculars, the bright colored feathers were clearly visible, and shimmered as the bird twitched, looking about.

Clifford said that some birds are harder to spot than others. “Especially with warblers,” he noted, referring to an often small, colorful species of birds. “They’re so tiny, so hyper. Sometimes you’ll see them fly into a tree, and then you lose them in the leaves. Like that one, there.”

He pointed to a small bird that emerged from the branches of a nearby tree, changed directions several times in sharp, tight arcs, and then returned to the tree it came from.

The backdrop of trees and leaves, darkened by shade, made it hard to follow the exact shape of the dark-colored warbler. As it flitted around, it blocked bits of sunshine that poked through the canopy, making it easier to trace the bird’s path.

At a clearing near a slow-moving, thin stream, the group of about 15 bird-watchers stopped, many gasping. A hummingbird on the opposite bank fluttered through a tall bush with golden-orange, bulbous flowers. “That’s called jewel-weed,” Clifford said. “It kind of blooms just as the migration season is starting, so when you start to see these, you come looking for hummingbirds.”

The migration season ends in late October, which means there’s time to catch the warblers, hummingbirds, and other feathered friends in Hempstead Lake State Park before they leave for warmer woodlands.