--- Marie Schatz <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > So I wonder, if there seems to be an irruption, and/or early migration and/or higher number of birds coming further south - is that more about past and current weather/food conditions, or does it indicate a bad winter on the way? Or both? > I thought a mild winter was predicted? The birds move south as a response to the inadequacy of their current food sources. In particular many of Canada's seed-producing tree species didn't produce much of a crop this year. The winter finch forecast contains some details: http://www.ofo.ca/reports%20and%20articles/winterfinches.php Happy birding, Paul Paul Gardner Columbus, OH ______________________________________________________________________ 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]