Tweeters,

In the Vancouver, BC area- where Barrow's Goldeneyes are far more abundant
than anywhere in Puget Sound-- there is little evidence of a long-term
decline. The number of Barrow's recorded on the Vancouver Christmas Bird
Count has fluctuated between about 1000 and 2500 birds over the last 40
years, with a high count of 3044 in 2001.

Surf Scoters have also shown little long-term change in numbers, with counts
running between 2000 and 6000 birds. The count on the 2008 CBC was more than
6000, one of the highest counts ever.

The two species of marine birds which have declined dramatically around
Vancouver are the Western Grebe, now seen in hundreds rather than thousands,
and the Marbled Murrelet, being seen in numbers less than 10% of those in
the 1960s and 1970s.

It's very easy to check numbers of birds recorded on Christmas Bird Counts
on the BirdSource website AT http://www.birdsource.org .


In the specific case of Barrow's Goldeneyes, it is also worth noting that in
recent years, there have been many hundreds wintering near Lewiston, ID and
Clarkston, WA, where there many fewer 20 years ago.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Kelly
McAllister
Sent: March-19-10 7:34 AM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Re: Barrow's Golden Eye Population Decline?


There's a pretty good article about water bird declines here:

http://www.ptmsc.org/images/science/marinebirds/MarineBirdarticle.pdf



You can use the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program's web tools to look
at a couple of decade's worth of data here:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/mapping/psamp/index.html


The Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program has observed less evidence of
declines in goldeneyes than quite a few other marine birds on Puget Sound.

In my own experience, I remember, as a teenager, seeing large numbers of
goldeneyes flying into Capitol Lake every evening at dusk during late
November and into at least December. A couple of local bird enthusiasts,
Glen and Wanda Hoge, actually counted the birds for a time. These evening
flights may have been an indicator of higher goldeneye numbers in the area
during that period, early to mid-1970s, or it may have represented
conditions that made Capitol Lake an attractive place for a night roost,
conditions which have apparently changed. You'd have a difficult time, I
think, seeing more than a few goldeneyes flying into the lake in recent
years. During the 1970s, it was a truly wondrous experience to walk over 4th
Ave bridge at dusk due to the constant whistling wings and the sight of
flocks going into the lake, passing in rapid succession or virtually stacked
on top of one another.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington




At 01:03 PM 3/18/2010, tweeters-request at mailman2.u.washington.edu wrote:
Hi All,

I've been birdwatching at Burien's Seahurst Park since 1999. Over the
years I've noticed a significant decline in the number of Barrow's Golden
Eyes and other waterfowl (Surf Scoters, Common Mergansers, etc.). There
used to be hundreds of Barrow's Goldeneyes now I'm lucky if I see three.
Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Is there a disease affecting
Barrow's Goldeneyes? I understand that populations can fluctuate but this
downward trend doesn't seem to be abating. Any info much appreciated.
Thanks! :)

Heidi Narte
Gregory Heights, Washington