Into the Woods with Curio: Welcome back, Migrants!

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

Romans 11:33-34

May is when the spring migration is at its peak. Every day a new bird species arrives back to Beacon from their wintering grounds. Some will stay to raise a family in Muskoka, while others are passing through on their way to the boreal forest north of Lake Superior, or even up to the Arctic.

For some birds, it is just a short distance for them to come back from where they spent the winter. Robins are an example. They don’t go far, often spending the winter in southern Ontario if it is a mild winter, such as the one we just experienced. There they shelter in the ravines, feeding on a variety of berries.

Other migrants go further south, to a warmer climate where they can find the appropriate food. The hermit thrush is an example. A close relative of the robin, they winter along the Gulf Coast states in the U.S., arriving back in Muskoka in late April.

You are more likely to hear them than see them at camp. Their beautiful flute-like song, coming from somewhere in the woods behind the Crow’s nest, is an anticipated part of the summer evenings. If you chance to see one in the underbrush it is the same size as a robin, but with a spotted breast, plain brown back and rusty-coloured tail.

Some migrants leave the North American continent during the winter, making their way into Central or even South America. The very is an example of a long-distance migrant. Also closely related to robins, (and Hermit thrushes) veeries are common at Beacon in the summer. A warm brown, with a white belly and slightly

streaked breast, these robin-sized thrushes are also beautiful singers. Listen for their cascading series of notes in the early morning hours, beginning around the same time as the staff training weekend.

What brings these birds back to camp each summer? Some of the same reasons that you and I return -community and good food and singing. Their reasons for leaving each fall are similar, too -- the cold and snow make it much harder to live at Beacon in the winter. But their trip to the sunny south is not a holiday. Birds face many dangers there, including more predators, more competition for food, and habitat destruction that limits where they can safely live. Their migration journey there and back here is also full of perils. Often flying at night to avoid predators, they are at risk of crashing into tall buildings, wi-fi towers and sometimes windmills. Unpredictable weather also wreaks havoc on migratory birds, blowing them off course, stranding them in a vulnerable place, or sometimes over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico!

How do they do it? At one time it was all attributed to instinct, though ornithologists are now understanding there is much more to it. Birds are not really ‘bird-brained’ but much more intelligent than we have given them credit for, (think crows).

We shouldn’t be surprised, as they are part of God’s Creation. Though we don’t understand all of what it takes for these birds to find their way back to Beacon each spring, we can appreciate them all the more when we consider their amazing travels.