Al Jaramillo's comments about the intensity of sandpiper migration in
Boundary Bay mirrors what I have heard elsewhere--that a lot of shorebirds
were using the protected waters away from the outer coast in the Northwest
this year. There were record numbers of Whimbrels in Skagit Co., WA, for
example (>800 one day). From what I have heard and seen, it seems as if the
numbers of shorebirds were exceptionally low on the outer coast, and,
rather than this heralding the final apocalypse of the shorebirds, may mean
only that the main migration push was elsewhere. Does anyone have any other
information on this? We need to understand why birds go some places and not
others, with spatial variation (moving of migration routes) surprisingly
great, perhaps greater than temporal variation (migrating earlier or
later). Is it wind direction? Bad weather vs. good? Amount of fresh water
in wetlands? Coincidence of tidal cycles? Substantial changes in prey
abundance in different places from year to year? The big question to me is
always "how do the birds know where to go to find food?"

Dennis Paulson
dpaulson at ups.edu