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'" , "northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com" > 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' ; > northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com > 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:c...@cornell.edu] > 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/nfc-l@cornell.edu/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/ --