SOURCE ET SUITE
USA LES OISEAUX PRIS AU PIEGE... TROMPES PAR LA DOUCEUR ILS AVAIENT COMMENCE LE RETOUR VERS LE NORD, MAIS BANG.. ILS ONT TROUVE LE FROID. .
LE GROS PROBLEME EST LA NOURRITURE...ET LES SOLS GELES OU ILS NE PEUVENT PIOCHER POUR LES VERS DE TERRE..
PAS DROLE TOUT CELA...
CERTAINS SE SONT ARRETES ET ATENDENT EN TENTANT DE SURVIVRE... MAIS D' AUTRES PENSENT A RETOURNER VERS LE SUD
Birds have migrated north in large numbers in recent weeks - an early
gamble that is now forcing some to do a U-turn, and others to starve.
A number of people in Ottawa have heard Canada geese fly over noisily, beginning in late February's mild spell.
"Thousands of geese showing up in eastern Ontario. A lot of them are
actually still here," birder Bruce Di Labio said. But with snow covering
the cornfields and freezing temperatures at night, they aren't going
any farther north.
Many are spending nights in the Ottawa River near the Deschênes
Rapids. There are also snow geese, Ross's geese and greater
white-fronted geese, as well as ducks such as American widgeons,
pintails and wood ducks.
"If I think back 40 years, a lot of these geese didn't show up until
towards the end of March," Di Labio said. "Their spring migration
movement has moved back a number of weeks now.
"Some of these birds don't go as far south as they did 45, 50 years ago.
So they are wintering farther north, so it just takes a little mild
spell to encourage them to move up.
"If we get more snow, they will definitely have to retreat because there
is nowhere to feed. All those exposed cornfields that we have in
Richmond, Munster, southeast and southwest of the city - that is where
they are feeding right now."
Smaller birds are arriving, too. Red-winged blackbirds started to arrive by Feb. 24.
"They were on territory in cattail marshes, singing away as if spring was here," he said.
"They can eat anything. Yes, they eat insects in the summertime, but
they also eat berries and seeds and can go to bird feeders and survive."
Common grackles, robins, Eastern bluebirds and song sparrows are
around, as well.
Di Labio did see American woodcock at the end of February, birds that
eat worms and bugs that they dig out of the soil. But the freezing
weather has probably cut off their food supply, he said.
"The likelihood is they're not going to do too well. They likely starved."
There has also been an appearance of turkey vultures.
With the forest continuing seasonably cold, the northward flow will
likely stop for now, he said. But geese at least are hardy and will not
suffer - although some may head back to the St. Lawrence River in search
of milder weather and the open water that gives them safety from
predators at night.
"This is the new face of things," said Bridget Stutchbury, who studies migratory birds at York University.
"A number of scientific studies have looked at arrival dates of various
species and found advances of two or three weeks" as our climate grows
warmer, she said.
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