Hi,

Having done breeding bird surveys for the Holden Arboretum every year since
2007 I like to reflect on the changes year to year.  There is natural
variation in everything and changes are normal and to be expected and not
due to some assignable cause.  So in no particular order these are the
things that sort of stand out to me at about the mid point of the breeding
season.

Louisiana Waterthrushs are having an exceptional year and we are finding
them in maximum territory density in the high quality streams.

The Wood Thrush population is also very healthy and I'm finding more
fledglings than in past years.  On the other hand there have been very few
Veerys.

Red-bellied and Piliated Woodpeckers are doing very well. Downys are about
normal and we are not finding many Hairys at all.

I predict than in another decade Wild Turkeys will be considered by many to
be a nuisance like Canada Geese.  They are everywhere.

Wood Warblers are few and far between. Even Hooded Warbler numbers seem
down over other years.  The Ceruleans are still in their favored haunts,
but Black-throated Greens, Ovenbirds, and even American Redstarts have been
practically non existent. Our Black-throated Blues were last found in 2013.

Flycatchers are all at near normal levels Phoebes are fewer than usual, but
Acadians are abundant in some areas.

Bose-grested Rosbeaks are abundant in my yard, with at least 4 possible 6
nesting pairs. Elsewhere they are less evident.

Yellow-throated Vireos are now up to probable nesters in several areas.
Blue-headed are spotty but we are still finding them in good habitat.

The breeding Scarlet Tanager population is doing fine and this morning on
Little Mountain they were the predominant bird species.  I had 8 singing.

Winter Wren is nowhere to be found. Carolina Wrens have abandoned my
neighborhood, House Wrens are at their usual numbers.

Purple Finches are not as obvious as in some years.  I have not been going
to their more usual haunts, but some years they nest in my yard. Not this
year.

Juncos are abundant in their less traditional haunts, and less obvious in
the Hemlock Ravines and rocky outcrops where they were once common.  We
have not been hearing them as much as in past years and when we do it is
the Nashville Warbler like song more often than the trill.

So these are just observations.  If I had to, I could go over my field
notes from past years and find if my casual perceptions are supported by my
actual observations.

Of all of this the most curious to me is the lack of Wood Warblers. I know
it is not my hearing because When they are around I hear them fine.  They
have just not been around.

Haans

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