Wolfsong wrote:
The huge flocks all came over about 2 weeks ago about 150km east of me but the reports were of some amazing days of crane viewing... I'm just getting glimpses of small flocks of 100 or less birds... still cool but nothing like at peek. The flocks are also getting fewer and fewer so the cranes should be reaching you pretty soon...
That's good to hear. We've been doing excellent on passerines this year - earlier even than usual...but the ducks and geese have been a little slow. The blue-winged teal and the occasional shoveler seem to be about all the ducks and geese we've had down here so far, other than our natives.
Quote:
What puzzles me this year are the ducks and geese. No idea if they are flying over a bit farther east of us this year just like the cranes or if the peek just isnt here yet.... we have had great weather so far so that is a cause for sure with temps yest and today hitting 20C. still but we have had several nights of frost.. still no days where we have not broken 0 C. yet though.. personally I think the main migration is late this year... what Im trying to say is I think your birds may be arriving a few weeks late this year due to the unusually mild weather up here and farther north.
I wouldn't be surprised if the combination of last year's extremely late winter, and short winter, combined with a slow start this year, didn't move the migration back a few weeks or months even. Last year was one of our slowest winter migrations due to the very mild winter down south, and non-existent winter for us here in FL. Birds that would have normally come down to the southern tip of the state stayed farther up north in the state, because the temps were so high. I am really hoping we don't have another winter like that! It might change migration patterns irrevocably.
Our passerine early and heavy migration so far was at least a good sign. In September, we were getting easy spottings of some warbler species we don't even see very often, and a good month earlier than typical...I had 6 or 7 first-time sightings myself so far in the past few months. Now if the ducks, cranes, geese, etc start coming down, we'll be in better shape this year.
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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
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