Dear All,

I find it very distressing and heart-rending to see the birds perish in the
unusually nasty winter weather. Shaker Green lake/Duck pond has 2 pairs of
hooded mergansers, and a male with 2 females of ring-necked ducks, in
addition to several ( at least 5-6) wood ducks and several mallards.
I know that the woodducks and the mallards generally are good at taking
care of themselves, and the  former can roost in the trees. However, I am
concerned for the mergansers and the ring necked ducks. I was wondering if
you would have any information on their behavior or if there's anything we
can do to give these poor birds a slightly better chance at life.

I know that we are not supposed to intervene with the natural causes,
however, I also found the Wendy park area being frozen with lots of dead
birds, after a nice weather day earlier a couple of weeks ago. I am
wondering if one should create some methods that will allow the water
remain open in such areas with higher migrant bird populations. For
example, creating a windmill  at the corner pier that will generate some
heat to keep the water open on such days. The power may be used for other
purposes on regular days. I am not sure if there would be some other idea
around this forum to protect these birds.

I appreciate your response, and thank you for reading my post.
sincerely,
Pow

(Pow Joshi, Shaker Heights/Cleveland area)


On 25 March 2014 21:48, Pow Joshi <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> I find it very distressing and heart-rending to see the birds perish in
> the unusually nasty winter weather. Shaker Green lake/Duck pond has 2 pairs
> of hooded mergansers, and a male with 2 females of ring-necked ducks, in
> addition to several ( at least 5-6) wood ducks and several mallards.
> I know that the woodducks and the mallards generally are good at taking
> care of themselves, and the  former can roost in the trees. However, I am
> concerned for the mergansers and the ring necked ducks. I was wondering if
> you would have any information on their behavior or if there's anything we
> can do to give these poor birds a slightly better chance at life.
>
> I know that we are not supposed to intervene with the natural causes,
> however, I also found the Wendy park area being frozen with lots of dead
> birds, after a nice weather day earlier a couple of weeks ago. I am
> wondering if one should create some methods that will allow the water
> remain open in such areas with higher migrant bird populations. For
> example, creating a windmill  at the corner pier that will generate some
> heat to keep the water open on such days. The power may be used for other
> purposes on regular days. I am not sure if there would be some other idea
> around this forum to protect these birds.
>
> I appreciate your response, and thank you for reading my post.
> sincerely,
> Pow
>

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