Please don’t hate me because I’m warm. Because I’m not warm. I’m freaking HOT. And not in a good way.

While I realize that many of you didn’t have much of a summer and that you’re probably freezing your keisters off prematurely, we here in Florida have been roasting in 90º heat way past its time.

For weeks now, I’ve been staring at the peaked roof of the County Courthouse, waiting for the arrival of the Turkey Vultures, and therefore, fall. The Turkey Vultures, while seen all over South Florida in the winter, seem to love the thermal air currents around the courthouse. Their arrival is some reassurance that eventually the humidity will drop and the temperatures will moderate. But everyday, I’m disappointed. No vultures. C’mon! It’s October! Where’s Fall?!?

Oh. There it is. The first American Redstart showed up at my birdbaths this week! The American Redstart is a warbler that hawks – or hover-gleans – its food, and is mucho cool to watch as it flits up and through the branches of trees and shrubs to catch insects or nab a berry. This one is either a female or first-year male, and seems to be the first of this year’s winter migrants, at least in my yard. Yay!

And I saw a Turkey Vulture this morning. Just one, but can his buddies be far behind? Fall. Finally.

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Michelle at Rambling Woods is hosting Nature Notes: Signs of the Season, a weekly meme dedicated to challenging us to take a moment out of our hectic lives and notice the seasonal changes – large and small – taking place in nature all around each of us, in our own little corners of the world. Please visit Michelle and all the other participants, and maybe take some of your own Nature Notes!