Thank you for sending this - it is exactly my experience & my concern. I don't worry quite so much about migration, which can skip over us easily due to weather patterns. In fact there was an odd weather pattern in late April that seemed to sling a lot of 'my' warblers up to the coast of Maine where the fallout was welcomed with delight and surprise.
However the lack of nesters anywhere but prime habitat is far more worrisome, especially without any readily identifiable weather event to explain it. It's deeply concerning and I have wondered why no one is talking about it. Thank you for bringing it up! Alicia P.S. You left off hummingbirds, which are non-existent or in very low numbers for everyone I know, both folks with feeders and people like me whose plantings are tailored to their tastes. /I have not seen a single one in my yard yet. /This is hard to believe, our habitat is pretty prime: we live in a large clearing in the woods that is filled with wildflowers, additional hummingbird-favored plants we have added, plenty of water, trees with perfect forks for their nests (based on their past preference), and a neighbor who puts fresh nectar in her feeder every day. On 6/17/2017 9:52 AM, Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes wrote: > Everyone, > > Just pointing out the obvious here, but bird numbers in my immediate > area of Upstate NY are way down this year. I mean, /WAY/ down. John, > if you have full capacity of nesting Tree Swallows, it may be that the > sites you host are prime and being filled to capacity because they > /are/ the best locations. It sounds to me like the sub-par sites are > not being filled. > > Acoustically, birds are seriously lacking this year. Visually, birds > are lacking this year. Birding at the Hawthorn Orchard was a disaster, > yet there was food and everything was primed to receive birds. Regular > numbers of expected birds were hugely lacking. What happened to the > Tennessee Warblers and Blackpoll Warblers? I think I recorded > something like three Tennessee Warblers at most on one day at the > Hawthorn Orchard, then they were just done. Blackpoll Warblers…you > were lucky to see or hear a single bird this spring. Blackpoll > Warblers used to come through here in droves – just driving around, > you would pass singing Blackpoll Warbler after Blackpoll Warbler, > during their peak migration through this area. Remember? When all of > those Blackpoll Warblers came through, that marked the “end” of that > spring migration – the cleanup species – this simply didn’t happen. > > In overflow areas, where habitat may not be the best, or is sub-par, > and which normally fills in because the best habitats are already > taken by other birds, the birds simply are not there. > > Yellow Warblers, everywhere? Nope. > Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, everywhere? Nope. > Baltimore Orioles, everywhere? Nope. > Red-eyed Vireos, everywhere? Nope. > Chipping Sparrows, everywhere? Nope. > Common birds absolutely everywhere? Nope. > > I’m just talking about the regular comings and goings of my own > personal activities of driving around, walking in and out of > buildings, coming and going from home, work, shopping, etc. I’m just > not seeing or hearing the abundance of birds that I’m used to seeing > or hearing. It just seems deadly quiet this year, if you look at the > whole picture – the gestalt of bird abundance this year. > > Sure, prime habitats may seem to have the “regular” volumes of birds, > but the sub-par habitats are seemingly empty. > > If there is not a rock solid explanation for this, then this is a red > flag in my opinion. > > Perhaps the most logical cause is weather-related. > > If this is not the case, then we’ve got something far more detrimental > going on, at least in the Northeast. > > Hope I’m wrong. > > Sincerely, > Chris T-H > > On Jun 17, 2017, at 9:00 AM, k...@empacc.net <mailto:k...@empacc.net> > wrote: > > We have 17 boxes active, one with bluebirds, two with House Wren, a > one with chickadees and the remainder with Tree Swallows. Probably > another good year after a 100% occupancy/success rate last year. We > believe this is due to effective placement and predator guards that > function well. john > > > --- > John and Sue Gregoire > Field Ornithologists > Kestrel Haven Migration Observatory > 5373 Fitzgerald Rd > Burdett, NY 14818 > 42.443508000, -76.758202000 > > On 2017-06-17 12:40, Glenn Wilson wrote: > >> We usually have a dozen or so flying and nesting until mid summer. I >> haven't seen a single one since early swallow migration. >> >> Glenn Wilson >> Endicott, NY >> www.WilsonsWarbler.com <http://www.wilsonswarbler.com/> >> >> On Jun 17, 2017, at 8:34 AM, John and Fritzie Blizzard >> <job121...@verizon.net <mailto:job121...@verizon.net>> wrote: >> >> We've had one nesting pr. with 5 young expected to fledge in 11 days. >> Usually have at least 3 pr. with many others flying about. Not so >> this yr.. Same with barn swallows. For the last 2 yrs. we've not had >> more than a doz. of either lining up on our power line in late summer >> before migration. Used to be many, many dozens. :'( >> >> The 100 acres behind us were mowed on Wed.. I didn't see a swallow. >> Same when the school lawns are being mowed. Always before the birds >> were swooping overhead in great numbers to get insects. We no longer >> see those many insects. >> >> Rachel Carson ... we need you again to lead a new fight. >> >> Fritzie Blizzard >> >> Union Springs >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> >> ARCHIVES: >> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds >> 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html >> >> Please submit your observations to eBird: >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >> >> -- >> >> >> -- >> >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> >> ARCHIVES: >> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds >> 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html >> >> Please submit your observations to eBird: >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >> >> -- >> > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > > -- > Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes > Field Applications Engineer > Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology > 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 > W:607-254-2418 <tel:607-254-2418> M:607-351-5740 > <tel:607-351-5740> F:607-254-1132 <tel:607-254-1132> > http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp > > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
