My wife Betsy and I have been following with interest the discussion about
whether there are fewer birds around the Upper Valley this fall.  We live
on Elm St in Norwich, Vermont, about 3/4 of a mile from the center of town,
just as the road leaves the village district and transitions to a more
wooded environment.

While we probably have a smaller number of birds at the feeders currently
(compared to what we remember at this time of year - with no hard data to
back up that claim), there are perhaps several reasons why, which others
have commented on (prolonged warm spell, late frost, the availability of
natural food, and setting our feeders out later than usual).  However, we
definitely didn't experience the lack of migrating birds that some reported
earlier in the fall.

Throughout most of September and early October, during all that warm
weather, I observed large flocks of birds moving through the yard, and
especially in the woods immediately around us.  Robins, flickers, various
confusing fall warblers, sparrows, etc, all in good numbers.  There were a
couple of weeks where a look into the edge of the woods around the house
revealed large numbers of migrating birds flitting about in the shadows in
the underbrush.  Seemed like there were whirring wings everywhere.

After all of that movement, it seemed like it quieted down a bit.  We
hadn't put the feeders out yet - it was warm still and we didn't want to
attract bear activity before they settled into their dens for the winter.
When the weather finally broke in early November, about 10 days ago, we
hung the feeders.  It took 3-4 days to attract some attention, but we're
now seeing a pretty good variety of the usual yard/feeder birds.  Oddly
enough, the titmice were the first to discover the feeders, which I don't
remember being usual in the past.

Chickadees, juncos, titmice, house finches, goldfinches, now all in good
numbers.  Not as many as we see in mid-winter, but I expect the numbers to
grow as sources of food in the woods become harder to find with the cold
and the snow.  When that happens, they seem to concentrate around the
feeders in larger numbers.

Betsy just put the suet out this week, and we already have a couple of
downy woodpeckers.  We also have a male and female cardinal that have been
in the yard all summer, and are still here.  The mourning doves, after
being absent for a while, returned in the past week or two.  We see a small
flock of 4-6 of them pretty regularly.  They perch in the trees when they
get tired of scratching through the spilled seed on the ground under the
feeders.

Although we don't have the number of robins we had during the migrating
rush that passed through in September and early October (when it was common
to see 10-15 at a time), we still have 5-6 birds that hang out in the yard
picking crabapples off the trees.  And over the weekend, we had a small
flock of bluebirds (about 7, I think) in the crabapples.  We only see
bluebirds in the yard infrequently, usually in the late winter or very
early spring.  This is the first time I remember seeing a flock in the
fall.  And definitely a first for mid-November.

Obviously, there's been some variation in numbers/species reported in
different locations around the UV, but there do seem to be a lot of reports
of fewer birds, which people are rightfully concerned about.  Observations
in our yard don't seem as alarming, although activity at the feeders seems
to be starting a little late.  But as I said, the late warm weather and a
delay in hanging the feeders could be major factors contributing to that.

Hopefully others will start to see numbers pick up as the weather continues
to be more appropriate for the season.

Bill Schults

Co-Owner, UV-Birders ListServ


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