Great blue heron in Drayton Plains (Michigan)
photo by Jonathan Schechter

Fall migration season is well underway. It has been weeks since I have seen a hummingbird or tree swallow.They had to leave. Not because it was getting too cold, but because their food supply was gone.  Ruby-throated hummingbirds needed nectar and swallows gulp down insects on the wing. 
Their store is closed.
  Hawk and owls stick around all winter with plenty of voles, mice, rabbits and squirrels to eat.
Turkey vultures are leaving soon for as connoisseurs of  decaying flesh, they must. Frozen carrion is not something they can consume. Black-capped chickadees and woodpeckers feast in Michigan all winter with an aubundance of  seeds in fields and bugs under bark to be found. Most great blue herons headed to warmer areas in pursuit of fish and frogs  weeks ago but a few loiter on perhaps quietly reflecting on their time for departure and searching for one last fish in silent waters before ice coats their hunting grounds.