A small update, after several trails walked and a conversation with the folks in charge of the forest, it seems like the bird numbers are down this year. A cool and wet spring seems to have limited hatching success for this summer's crop of birds. What few birds I am seeing are all fully mature (except for the one that's haunting the house). Another variable: last year this part of the world was in an extensive drought. This year had significant rainfall and even flooding in the region, so the woods seem lush, green, and very full of berries and other foodstuffs. Not sure how that is affecting things, but I'm not seeing birds in the usual places. Another difference...last year we had raptors everywhere, and every version was well-represented (red-tail, sharp-shinned, goshawk, etc.). You'd drive down a road and flush a hawk every few feet. The evidence of their feeding was also everywhere, with many piles of feathers on each trail I walked. No sign (or very little) of either the hawks or the feathers this year. With things still so green and full, it's hard to get a solid feel for things, but I should have had several encounters with birds so-far and yet...there's still nothing in the freezer.
Last edited by Lloyd3; 09/29/22 10:22 AM.
