DH was at the Deer Lease around Henryetta this weekend and he said the Sand Hill Cranes came in and were moving south too....

Pardon the question, but I am new to the area. What does early geese and the Sand Hill Cranes arrival indicate?
Melony

Melony,
It may not indicate anything and again it might. If they start moving through early in large numbers that usually means earlier cooler weather. And in milder winters many will over winter on the ponds behind my house and never move on south. Or if they do it will be a few days before a major storm and then move back if it is going to be mild again. Our coldest weather last winter was in mid Dec followed by a 15 inch blizzard. Many moved south a few days before but were back in early Jan after the snow melted enough they could find food. And sure enough we had a mild winter. I will know more in 2-3 weeks by the numbers arriving and whether they stay or pass on through what our early winter will likely be like. Arriving early means in some areas north of here the cold has hit. I will post an update later. Jay

Jay, Do you remember last year that I saw a flock of geese coming through in September? Well, it happened again back around Labor Day. It was only one large flock. They were flying from the northwest to the southeast, and it just so happens that the Hagerman Wildlife Refuge lies in the general direction they were headed. The refuge is a magnet for migrating birds. Some come and stay for the winter, and others visit and then head further south. So, with that bird sighting in my head, I've been expecting an early frost or freeze, and it went to 31 degrees here early this morning.

I haven't seen any ducks on the ponds around here that usually have migrating ducks arrive in the fall and overwinter.

Melony, When we have early geese this far south, I consider it a bad omen. Like Jay said though, sometimes they go back a little north if there's an adequate food source available.

The bigger omen at our house is the hummingbirds. We're pretty far south and they'll stick around a long time if the weather is mild and if we have flowers in bloom and nectar in the hummingbird feeders. Sometimes they still are around as November approaches. When they leave abruptly, we know the first really cold weather is going to arrive in a week or less. I know I saw hummingbirds last Sunday, but don't think I've seen any since then. By about Wednesday, I was asking Tim "have you seen any hummers the last few days because I haven't", and he hadn't seen any either, so I knew that it was likely we were going to be pretty cold pretty soon.

The goldfinches and robins that overwinter here every year haven't arrived yet, so maybe that is a sign there's going to be some more nice weather.

Mother Nature sends us a lot of clues about the weather if we just take the time to observe those clues and learn from them.

Dawn

Thanks, all! I'll start keeing notes, if you guys keep talking!
I haven't seen any hummingbirds in at least two weeks. It seems that just one morning, they were gone, even though I still had the feeders up and flowers on the hibiscus and butterfly bushes. And the geese (no idea what kind) that hang out on the pond behind us (we usually get an excellent fly over every morning; it still gives me goose bumps - sorry for the pun) just disappeared.
thanks again, Melony

Melony,

You're welcome.

It was a really good pun too. : )

Dawn