Migration Of Birds and Wildlife

[cococat9]

Canadian geese are the only bird I know of in my area that migrate. I am interested in hearing other stories about bird, butterfly and wildlife migration. A movie I watched last week called Winged Migration really moved me and peaked my interest.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/winged-migration/
There are a few predator scenes that are hard to watch. Bit of a shock to see birds past by the Twin Towers

Review
http://www.documentaryfilms.net/Reviews/WingedMigration/

Hope you will share some bird and wildlife migration stories and pictures.

[AliceWitt]

This is a study from this year regarding the migration of eagles.

Migration Study of Bald Eagles
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/jrr/v039n01/p00011-p00018.pdf

[AliceWitt]

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association in Kempton, PA is:
A scientific research center
An international conservation training site
A learning facility for all ages
An eco-tourism destination
A wildlife sanctuary open to the public year-round
The world's largest member-supported raptor conservation organization

One of the best places in northeastern North America to view the annual autumn hawk migration
http://www.hawkmountain.org/
Thousands of broad-winged hawks were counted flying over the North Ridge yesterday. The final count was 2813. And 69 Monarchs were spotted migrating past in honor of Monarch day at Hawk Mountain.
The statistics from just yesterday were just awesome
The migration counts are taken from August 15 - December 15.
Hawk Mountain Raptor Count:Annual Raptor Migration
http://www.hawkmountain.org/science/hawk-mountain-raptorcount/hawk-count~default.aspx?id=518

[decorah71]

liked to see the bald eagle count

there is a lot of info here


 96 bald eagles   on  10/1/2010


thanks  Alice

[maple]

I just realized, thanks to Squee, that there is this new thread on migration. She thought I should re-post this. Yesterday, at the Lake Erie Metropark, 190,000 broad winged hawks filled the sky as they made their fall migration. The picture I've posted is of one kettle taken the day before the big push. The hawks swirl in the thermal and then stream out as they find the current to the next. They travel about 69 miles a day as they journey as far as the northern part of South America. You can find the stats for the year at
www.drhawkwatch.org/

[maple]

P.S. A math wizard/ birder just posted on the bird list here that the broad wings are flying at about 5339 feet - some probably higher. No wonder you can't get a better picture.

[AliceWitt]

In protecting America's wildlife, federal law-enforcement officials are turning a blind eye to the harm done by "green" energy.

"Somebody has given the wind industry a get-out-of-jail-free card," said  Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy . "If there were even one prosecution," he added, "the wind industry would be forced to take the issue seriously."

By 2030, environmental and lobby groups are pushing for the U.S. to be producing 20% of its electricity from wind. Meeting that goal, according to the Department of Energy, will require the U.S. to have about 300,000 megawatts of wind capacity, a 12-fold increase over 2008 levels. If that target is achieved, we can expect some 300,000 birds, at the least, to be killed by wind turbines each year.

Why aren't wind companies prosecuted for killing eagles and other birds? "The fix here is not easy or cheap," said Mr. Lee He added that he "doesn't expect to see any prosecutions of the politically correct wind industry".


A July 2008 study of the wind farm at Altamont Pass, Calif., estimated that its turbines kill an average of 80 golden eagles per year. The study, funded by the Alameda County Community Development Agency, also estimated that about 10,000 birds—nearly all protected by the migratory bird act—are being whacked every year at Altamont.

Altamont's turbines, located about 30 miles east of Oakland, Calif., kill more than 100 times as many birds as Exxon's tanks, and they do so every year. But the Altamont Pass wind farm does not face the same threat of prosecution, even though the bird kills at Altamont have been repeatedly documented by biologists since the mid-1990s.

[Lois Ann (lannml)]

CROSS POSTING: 

Annual Hawk Watch (raptor migration) October 1-2, 2011 at Effigy Mounds in Northeast Iowa. 

See this posting for details and link:  http://raptorresource.org/forum/index.php/topic,186.msg51203.html#msg51203

[Dot]

... new thread on migration ... Yesterday, at the Lake Erie Metropark, 190,000 broad winged hawks filled the sky as they made their fall migration.

Hi Maple - almost time for the Tundra Swan migration.  This year, I'll go down to Brownsville early rather than when I get back from NM after Thanksgiving.

Dot

[Keystone]

Just FYI, an article about the migration of the Whooping Cranes this year through Kansas and then on to Texas.

http://www.kansas.com/2011/09/25/2032007/migration-frustration.html

[Keystone]

Northern New Mexico may benefit Migratory Birds

http://wilderness.org/content/rio-grande-gorge-legislation-re-introduced

[FinnBMD]

... new thread on migration ... Yesterday, at the Lake Erie Metropark, 190,000 broad winged hawks filled the sky as they made their fall migration.

Hi Maple - almost time for the Tundra Swan migration.  This year, I'll go down to Brownsville early rather than when I get back from NM after Thanksgiving.

Dot

Alma, WI is a wonderful place to view the swans as well.  Especially the Rieck's Lake location--it is an intimate setting--you can get close to the swans and watch the parents interact with their young in a park-like area.  Great for photography if you're interested.  The Alma website updates the number of swans regularly once the migration really starts.  Very different environment from the thousands of swans that gather at Brownsville.  Here's the Alma website for those who are interested:


http://www.almaswanwatch.org/

[FinnBMD]

I'm currently reading one of the books that Amy recommended on migration:  Keith L. Bildstein's Migrating Raptors of the World: their Ecology and Conservation.  He talks about "migratory restlessness" [German = "Zugunruhe"] which is defined as the "increased rate of to-and-fro hopping and flitting movements and wing fluttering in caged birds during the species' period of migration."  A German scientist named Gustav Kramer studied captive Eurasian Starlings in the late 1940s and found that--in the months that they would otherwise be migrating--they hopped and flitted about their cages more frequently than at other times of the year.  Kramer also noted that this "migratory restlessness" was much more pronounced on sunny days than on cloudy days and that most of the hopping and fluttering of the caged birds was aimed toward the direction that the birds would normally migrate along.  He suggested that these captive birds--just like their free counterparts--use the sun's location in the sky to orient themselves even though they were caged-bound.   This is in direct contrast to nocturnal avian migrants who use individual stars or constellations for orientation. 

[FinnBMD]

For those of you who are interested in Whooping Cranes, there is a moderated UStream chat room covering the flight of an ultra-lite plane accompanying a whole new batch of chicks migrating from WI to their home in Florida. The 10 chicks were hatched in MD and brought to the White River Marsh in Wisconsin.  The moderators and chatters at the site are full of information.  The chicks are at their first stop on the way south and the best time to see them practicing for the trip is apparently at sunrise central time (around 7:10 a.m.);  the crew accompanying the birds also sometimes uses a cam in the afternoon when they feed them treats like grapes.  Every precaution is being taken to prevent human imprinting which will be interesting to watch as well.

http://www.ustream.tv/migratingcranes

[squeeaglee]

For those of you who are interested in Whooping Cranes, there is a moderated UStream chat room covering the flight of an ultra-lite plane accompanying a whole new batch of chicks migrating from WI to their home in Florida. The 10 chicks were hatched in MD and brought to the White River Marsh in Wisconsin.  The moderators and chatters at the site are full of information.  The chicks are at their first stop on the way south and the best time to see them practicing for the trip is apparently at sunrise central time (around 7:10 a.m.);  the crew accompanying the birds also sometimes uses a cam in the afternoon when they feed them treats like grapes.  Every precaution is being taken to prevent human imprinting which will be interesting to watch as well.

http://www.ustream.tv/migratingcranes

Oh wow Finn, thank you SO much!!  Duphoff are you reading this?