I suspect there may be two related factors influencing abnormal dispersal of breeding birds in Colorado this summer. The first is the drought and the second is the resulting increase in major wildland fires. I spent time in five atlas blocks in the vicinity of South Park in recent weeks, and almost every creek was dry. My overall impression was that bird numbers were down. This was particularly notable in willow carr habitat. Species that I would have expected in wet years (e.g. Wilson's Warblers) simply were not there. In one area where I found singing White-crowned Sparrows in late May, there were none in late June.
I would expect species displaced by fire or simply unable to nest successfully to be showing up early outside of their usual breeding areas and perhaps concentrating in places with sufficient resources. Chuck Hundertmark Lafayette, CO On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 10:15 AM, Hugh Kingery <[email protected]> wrote: > Ray Fisher sent me this interesting email. Any comments? > > Hugh Kingery > Franktown, CO > > Our rain gauge observer network director Nolan Doeskan, former CO State > climatologist, says flickers are crowding into his apple tree in Fort > Collins...some say they were driven out of the hills by the fire and are > congregating at 'any waterhole' . Does this make sense? > > It makes me think how many nesting birds lost their nests in these fires. > > RAy Fisher > [email protected] > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en-US. > -- Chuck Hundertmark 2546 Lake Meadow Drive Lafayette, CO 80026 303-604-0531 Cell: 720-771-8659 [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en-US.
