All, In Broome Co we have been fortunate to have had a great year for the AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER. That is most definitely related to the drawdown of Whitney Point Reservoir which empasses ebird hotspots of Upper Lisle Co. Park, Dorchester Park and Keibel Rd. But, based on looking at Bull's comment from his 1974 publication and many of you chiming in on how much less common this bird is, what could be causing this decline? The only thing that has changed significantly for this species , especially in the last 10-15 years, is the proliferation of wind farms in the central Plains and midwest. This is a major migratory pathway for this species especially in the spring and still even in the fall. The rapid and continued rapid deployment of wind farms in fields where these birds forage and rest on their way to the Arctic likely has something to do with the population declines. The Arctic has not warmed much since 2010 and the fact that the Arctic was 2-4C warmer 8000 years ago vs today based on paleoclimate studies suggests that this is not a major factor.... at least yet. Winter grounds look similar and I could not find anything published related to a use of a new pesticide or herbicide down there. They also like the wetter areas on their winter grounds that are grazed by cattle which hasn't changed much. So unless the declines are cyclic related to availability of other prey for predators (lemmings etc) the only other thing to consider is the rapid increase in wind farms in a major migratory pathway for this species. I think as birders we have to be careful supporting wind farms. Wind farms and solar farms Which can destroy a lot of field and forest habitat DO have an impact on birds. And energy companies don't care about this stuff, they want to make money. My contention is that wind farms are what is causing the declines in the golden plovers and other shorebirds passing through the middle of the country. With projections of a 4 times increase in wind farms by 2050, this could be a major issue. If our country goes through with this without a commitment from China, Russia or India to reduce CO2 emissions it will all be a waste. So in summary I don't agree with Audubon's position on renewable energy. I think it could have major negative impacts for our birds. A climate that is gradually warming likely will help birds, not hurt them. Summers without cold rainy periods are good for nesting. A warmer less stormy arctic is good for arctic nesting shorebirds. When we had a very chilly summer with leftover snow in the Arctic a few years back I remember the nesting season was proclaimed really bad by researchers up there. So let's be very careful about supporting renewable energy when it leads to destruction of habitat and literally death of our birds. I am concerned about the future related to this.
Dave -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
