[Bristol-Birds] Hooded Mergansers exit, Ring-billed Gulls delayed ?
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-Birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:12:17 +0000
10 Dec 2009
Bristol, Sullivan Co, TN
Sutter Pond:
Gadwall - 7
American Wigeon - 38
Ring-necked Duck - 31
Middlebrook Lake:
The Hooded Mergansers which appeared to have reached their substantial
wintering number here a few days ago, may have departed.
Earlier in the week none were present. Only about a dozen now. If they have
not moved north a few miles to Clear Creek Lake in Bristol VA, numbers for the
Bristol CBC could be seasonally low.
The Bristol area Hoodeds seem to regularly move between Clear Creek and
Middlebrook and are generally believed to be a single wintering group.
We've seen this sudden abandonment at Middlebrook before and speculated such
an absence may reflect a crash of whatever food source (probably mostly small
fish) that sustains them over winter in these shallow impoundments. Usually it
comes in January when the food source is too far depleted and birds become
restless at the approach of their northern migration when most leave her in
mid-February.
The earlier large surge may have simply been a restless stop over flight which
accumulated as a result of a brief frontal passage and have moved southward.
The large wintering flocks of Ring-billed Gulls, which winter here adjacent to
the massive regional landfill and frequent the inner city shopping center
parking lots and fast food strips, have not arrived.
This population is believed to come from breeding areas in the north central
states and adjacent Canadian provinces. Given the long-running mild weather in
that area, including the eastern Great Lakes since early November, the gulls
may have lingered. Plunging temperatures and snow cover to that area will
eventually send the gulls down.
The coming of winter to that area and other locales north of us may yet push
many tardy Hooded Mergansers south and our more normal wintering numbers in the
Bristol area will hopefully arrive soon .
We'll watch the business districts of the city for parking lot gull flocks
sitting on light polls to see if there is a detectable relationship to the
timing of a more typical wintering Hooded population for us.
Let's go birding,
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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