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Birds Flying At Night and Other Things of Note

Writer: Dr. Stephanie Shelburne
Dr. Stephanie Shelburne
Aug 29
3 min read
goldfinch and hops

So, two nights ago, roughly 10,900 birds left Bennington County here in Vermont, about 2 hours after sunset to start their winter migration. Incidentally, it was also the full moon and a lunar eclipse aaaand there were some major fluctuations in the earth's resonance (you can check that kind of stuff through several sources like NOAA) aaaaand, almost as if in response to the earth's energetic exhale, the sun engaged in solar flare/CME activity that was pretty high. Now, do any of these events have anything to do with each other. Who can say?


But what's fascinating to think about is all of that activity going on (and so much more) that other species can, in their own way of knowing, identify and respond to. Which then begs the question, what do we feel on a regular basis with our alternate and other ways of knowing but have forgotten how to identify and respond to? Do some of us feel the call for migration in our bones without realizing that's what it is and instead just feel restless and dissatisfied? Do we feel a lull with the lunar eclipse or a pulse with the earth's exhale and just not realize that is what we are feeling and chalk it up instead to a hard day, fatigue, caffeine?


I'd love to say I felt the migration urge and therefore knew the birds were beginning their exodus, but it was actually information from a live migration app that Cornell University and other institutions are working on. I highly recommend checking it out. For now it only identifies bird migrations here in the U.S., but they are working on a global migration identifier. (birdcast.org)


As for the science behind the dance of the sun and the earth, there is some pretty fascinating science about how we respond to that level of activity. Interestingly, there are responses that seem to be specific to our biology… men and women experience solar activity differently at a molecular level. For example, women experience a measurable disturbance of cardiovascular, hormonal, and systolic systems during geomagnetic disturbances, a study out of Bulgariaand a 2025 study out of Brazil both found this. Men experience these disruptions differently, with a measurable increase in testosterone tied to sun exposure (Nature Metabolism, 2022), which can result in higher levels of passion or aggression according to the research (I guess it can go either way). So maybe next time you have one of those random heart flutters or energy dives, instead of thinking it's all you, it's worth wondering what's going on in the Cosmos. (Also, side note, don't try to look directly into the sun to see what it is doing.)


If you want to nerd out on this yourself, BirdCast and NOAA's space weather page are both free. I'll be the one on the porch at dusk with a cup of tea, feeling into the night sky, trying to decipher what I'm feeling. That's a skill humans have lost, and it's one I want to redevelop.


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