Summer tanagers, fall migration

 In the fall, summer tanagers leave the Georgia Piedmont for their winter spots. Some fly across the sea to South America.

To store up energy for the long flight, they feast in late summer. The males are red, and the females are mostly yellow. I saw them catching the bees and wasps that hover in clouds over the ironweeds and bear’s foot along the Yellow River.

The last summer tanager I saw snagged a wasp midair. That was two weeks ago. I wonder whether he is already gone.