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]