Hi Laura Interestingly enough, I did the first round of my annual survey of a large park in Ann Arbor (SE michigan), and had an unusual 3 pairs of scarlet tanagers, instead of the usual one.
Not a very good sample size, admittedly Laurent On Tue, Jun 18, 2013 at 10:04 AM, Laura Gooch <[email protected]> wrote: > My own impression from northeast Ohio is that the breeding bird population > is fairly normal, with an apparent lack of Scarlet Tanager. I checked with > a couple of friends who are involved with different kinds of breeding bird > surveys, and their impressions are the same as mine. > > Laura Gooch > Cleveland Heights > > --- On Mon, 6/17/13, david nicosia wrote: > > > From: david nicosia > > Subject: Re: [nfc-l] [nysbirds-l] Minimal Migration or Population > Decline? > > To: "Joan E. Collins" , "'Christopher T. > Tessaglia-Hymes'" > > Cc: "'NYSBIRDS-L'" , "'NFC-L'" , > "'Sean O'Brien'" , "'Chris Rimmer'" > , "[email protected]" > > Date: Monday, June 17, 2013, 9:58 PM > > This is > > anecdotal. But each year I do an informal survey of the > > singing males at NewMichigan > > State Forest in Pharsalia Chenango County, NY. I try very > > hard to not recount birds and > > I have been doing this almost yearly since 2009. > > This is a boreal like forest...one of > > the few you can find > > outside the Catskills and Adirondacks in the > > highlands of central NY. This year I found all > > typical boreal breeders to be as common as > > past years. BLACKBURNIAN, MAGNOLIA WARBLERS were > > most abundant like other > > years as well as tons of OVENBIRDS. My total numbers were > > a bit down but I did not > > have time to do a couple roads that I did past > > years. If I did these > > roads I have no doubt > > numbers who have been comparable to other years. > > The dawn > > chorus was very active. This > > is just one > > spot....so hard to make any conclusions here. > > > > I > > am assuming this is just this year for many of you? If so, > > it has to be weather related. If > > it is a gradual decline through the years...then one would > > think it could be habitat changes...possibly wintering grounds and/or > > breeding grounds?? > > Of > > course, if resident birds are not as common either as has > > been stated...is there a disease > > affecting birds??? > > let's > > hope they rebound. Quite spring/summer woodlands is just > > downright depressing. > > > > From: Joan E. > > Collins > > To: > > 'Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes' > > > > Cc: > > 'NYSBIRDS-L' ; > > 'NFC-L' ; 'Sean > > O'Brien' ; 'Chris > > Rimmer' ; > > [email protected] > > Sent: Monday, > > June 17, 2013 3:35 PM > > Subject: > > RE:[nfc-l] [nysbirds-l] Minimal Migration or Population > > Decline? > > > > Hi Chris/All, > > I am out every day and I have not > > noticed any improvement. As I walk through the forest > > (or bogs), the lack of birds is all I can think about. > > I am surprised this has not been a dominant discussion on > > our NYS Birds list serve. It is so disturbing and > > everyone is anxiously awaiting BBS data for this year – > > but of course roadside surveys don’t work well for many > > species. I can barely find a Lincoln’s Sparrow (I > > jump up and down when I hear one now) – a species that is > > normally abundant in our Adirondack bogs. Canada > > Warbler numbers are way down. I have also noticed the > > same lack of species that you listed (although, I have > > not noticed a lack of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in > > northern NY). Indigo Bunting is another species that > > is hard to find. Scarlet Tanager, Veery….I could > > keep going… > > Chris Rimmer, Director of the Vermont > > Center for Ecostudies, emailed about the lack of neotropical > > migrants in e-central VT, and he is hearing the same thing > > from others – how quiet the forests are this spring. > > He has noticed that Swainson’s Thrush numbers are down up > > on Mount Mansfield in VT. I’ve been finding a few > > more on dawn tours up Whiteface Mountain since the Memorial > > Day Weekend 3-foot snowfall melted away. I plan to > > conduct the Mountain Birdwatch survey of that peak on > > Thursday, and the results should shed some light on > > Swainson’s Thrush numbers (at least in high elevation), in > > addition to numbers for all the other species we tally for > > that survey (I have the data from last year to compare > > to). Jeff Nadler, photographer, just > > emailed about a 3 day trip he took to boreal habitat areas > > in northern VT & NH, which he visits every year, and the > > lack of birds this year. He noticed not only a lack of > > neotropical migrants, but also a lack of year-round boreal > > species! He echoed the same thing everyone is noticing > > – the forests are “quiet” with no loud dawn > > chorus. > > I think we are all wondering the same > > question: “What happened?” I hope this question > > will eventually have an > > answer. > > Joan CollinsLong Lake, NY > > From: > > Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes [mailto:[email protected]] > > Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 11:17 AM > > To: Joan E. Collins > > Cc: NYSBIRDS-L; NFC-L; Sean O'Brien > > Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Fwd: Minimal Migration > > or Population Decline? Thank you, Joan, for this > > anecdotal evidence. Since it has been a couple of weeks now, > > I'm curious to know if anyone has noted an improvement > > in their local area birding spots, or if it has been more of > > the same. For me, I've noted a serious lack of typical > > neighborhood birds that used to be a regular part of the > > acoustic atmosphere: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore > > Oriole and Red-eyed Vireo, just to name a few. I've also > > noticed a lack of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds this year – > > usually, they are zipping around and chittering in the > > neighborhood. Not so this year, yet anyway. If this is > > region-wide, I'd think it critically important to > > collect as much data as possible to help monitor or track > > this seeming dearth of activity. I expect this fall > > migration to be fairly telling, if there was a > > pop-ulation-wide impact of some > > kind. > > Sincerely,Chris > > T-H > > > > -- > > NFC-L List Info: > > Welcome and > > Basics > > Rules and > > Information > > Subscribe, Configuration and > > Leave > > Archives: > > The Mail > > Archive > > Surfbirds > > BirdingOnThe.Net > > Please submit your observations to eBird! > > -- > > > > > > > > -- > > NFC-L List Info: > > Welcome and > > Basics > > Rules and > > Information > > Subscribe, Configuration and > > Leave > > Archives: > > The Mail > > Archive > > Surfbirds > > BirdingOnThe.Net > > Please submit your observations to eBird! > > -- > > > > -- > > NFC-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
