Burt, Tweeters

I find that numbers are also down here in Twin Lakes. We did have an
extremely high number of American Wigeon of about 400 -500 in October and
November. They have now dwindled down to 50 - 60 and some days hardly any.
Normally we never have more than 1-2 Coots, but this winter there 6-7. I do
see an increase in Common Mergansers with 14 male, 19 females the other day
for an all time high. Hooded Merganser numbers are quite good, with a 2 to 1
female to male average. Mallards are quite high since somebody feeds the
corn. On the other hand Bufflehead and Ring-Necked Duck numbers appear to be
lower, Also seem to have less Canada Geese.
I suspect though, that the re-appearance of at least 3 River Otters on one
lake, and possibly two more on the other lake, caused some of the waterfowl
to move to safer locations. Yesterday morning, at least one immature and two
adult Bald Eagles were eyeballing the flock for lunch.

Hans Feddern
Twin Lakes/Federal Way

On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 9:54 AM, Guttman,Burt <GuttmanB at evergreen.edu> wrote:

> Are you seeing diminished numbers of water birds? We live on Long Lake
> just outside Lacey, and while we have a lot of Mallards, the numbers of
> other wintering birds are waaaay down. For instance, I see perhaps 20 Coots
> on the lake, whereas in previous years we've had 150-200. I went by Capitol
> Lake in Olympia in preparation for a bird walk I'm doing there Saturday
> morning, and the numbers are astonishingly low. There's usually a huge
> gathering of American Wigeons at the south end of the lake, and there were
> hardly any yesterday. The mixed flocks of diving ducks are much thinner
> than usual. I know humans are destroying the world's ecosystems, but if
> these numbers are an indication of how badly we're doing it, we're in far
> greater trouble than I had thought.
>
> Burt Guttman
> The Evergreen State College
> Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb at evergreen.edu
> Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503
>
>
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