Just something to note; Audubon's Climate findings reported that Red-breasted Mergansers have shifted northward by almost 317 miles.  See: http://birdsandclimate.audubon.org/Species.html

 

Casey Tucker

Columbus, Ohio
 

 

 
> Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:50:16 -0500
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [Ohio-birds] Red-breasted Merganser numbers
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> As John has stated, I too remember the massive flocks of mergansers
> from the 80's. Below are numbers of Red-breasted Merganser from my
> November census from Kelleys Island which has always been run between
> the 13th and the 21st since 1997:
> 
> 1997 - 1500
> 1998 - 4100
> 1999 - 2907
> 2000 - 12923
> 2001 - 43
> 2002 - 10923
> 2003 - 5475
> 2004 - 181
> 2005 - 158
> 2006 - 19112
> 2007 - 271
> 2008 - 187
> 2009 - 68
> 
> 13 year Average = 4448 indivudals
> 
> This is just a snap-shot but numbers are nothing like the 80's. Still
> this year the "big" flocks have not appeared off Kelleys Island. I
> haven't observed 100+ this fall from the island. As you can see from
> the above data, three years of high counts may skew the numbers
> greatly or several years of low counts. Any way one looks at it,
> something has happened to the mergansers which migrate through Lake
> Erie.
> 
> --
> H. Thomas Bartlett
> Tiffin, Ohio
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> 
> Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
> Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
> 
> You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
> Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
                                          
_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/
______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]