No, Virginia don’t bolt the door and call your local immigration officer or posse comitatus. Rather, get out your binoculars and field guide and have a look for yourself. The migrants I’m talking about are our feathered friends.

It’s hard to believe but within the next eight weeks about 90 percent of the birds that nested from the Rio Grande to Alaska will be gone from North America. From the hummers currently sucking your feeder dry to the shorebirds whizzing by to the millions of broad-winged hawks sailing on thermals high, the mass exodus has begun.

For those across Western North Carolina who would like to get a peek at this phenomenon, there are at least three places within a couple of hours’ drive where you could whet your appetite. One of the best places to get a unique look at migrating passerines (songbirds) is Ridge Junction Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Ridge Junction is located at milepost 355 next to the entrance to Mt. Mitchell State Park.

What’s unique about this spot is that it’s like a hawk watch where you go out and wait for the birds to come to you. The birds come up the valley from Mt. Mitchell and many stop momentarily at the parkway before continuing south. I have counted as many as 80 ruby-throated hummingbirds at Ridge Junction in two hours’ time. It’s a great place for warblers, vireos, thrushes — about any migrating songbird you can think of with the occasional raptor thrown in.

But if it’s raptors you want, Caesar’s Head State Park on U.S. 276, in South Carolina just below the North Carolina line is the premiere spot in this region. Twelve thousand or more raptors pass over Caesar’s Head annually between September and December. The greatest bulk of these migrants — between 9,000 and 10,000 — are broad-winged hawks. The best time to catch the broad-wingeds is from the middle till the end of September.

Other raptors one might encounter at Caesar’s Head include red-tails, sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks as well as bald eagles, ospreys, peregrine falcons, American kestrels, turkey vultures and the occasional rarity like a golden eagle or northern goshawk. Volunteer hawk counters man Caesar’s Head every fall. These folks are happy to share their expertise with you. To contact Caesar’s Head to see what’s flying call 864.836.6115.

And yes, Virginia, there are shorebirds in the mountains. The most reliable place to get a look at migrating shorebirds and waders is in southeastern Tennessee. Rankin Bottoms Wildlife Management Area and neighboring Dutch Bottoms produce many species of migrant shorebirds and waterfowl every year including white pelican, tundra swan, upland, white-rumped, pectoral, least and solitary sandpiper, greater and lesser yellowlegs, ruddy turnstone, black tern and more. Rankin Bottoms lies along the confluence of the Nolichucky and French Broad rivers about two miles from the mouth of the French Broad. The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Douglas Dam regulates the water level at Rankin Bottoms. Much of the bottoms are accessible by vehicle and by foot during the fall and winter when TVA drops the water levels. Canoes and/or kayaks can add a great dimension to birding at Rankin Bottoms. For information on paddling trails contact the Rankin Bottoms Project at 423.487.3161 or mtnsylva@msn.com.

To get to Rankin Bottoms from Waynesville, take I-40 west to exit 432 B. That will put you on U.S. 25/70. Follow 25 East out of Newport to Rankin Hill Road. (I would estimate about 5 miles, but I have never measured it.) There will be a brown “Watchable Wildlife” sign at Rankin Hill Road. Follow Rankin Hill Road to the railroad crossing. At the crossing take Hill Road to the left, and follow it to the launch site.

Of course migrant sightings can be hit or miss, so you may have to endure more than one beautiful Indian summer day to assure yourself a proper look.

(Don Hendershot can be reached at ddihen@earthlink.net.)