Things Will Change

Sunrise, August 7, 2026 - and now that sunrise is 30 minutes later, I actually made it out before the sun was up!As Taylor Swift said, “Things will change, can you feel it now?” (“Changes”) One of my favorite things about aligning with the rhythm of nature is noticing the subtle shifts that happen before the bigger shifts that everyone notices. Just as the weather turns really hot, in what feels truly like mid-summer, the first fall migrants begin to trickle through.Starting to see more spotted sandpipers again.I’ve said so many times that spring migration is an all-out sprint, but fall migration is long and languid. Does it seem odd to talk about fall migration now? Does it seem “early”? Four ring-billed gulls arrived this week, including one youngster.I’ve come to understand that it isn’t early, and it also isn’t late. Birds begin to move this time of year. The purple martins have disappeared from our area now, leaving right on schedule at the end of July.Probably my last photo of a…