[mou] the migration in general

[tapaculo@fishnet.com]

People have been sharing their enjoyable sightings on MN-Bird, but it might
be valuable for this "online community" to pool observations of the 2003
migration in general (and of course any objective measures).

My own impression around Minneapolis is that it is disastrous, by the far
the worst in my 28 Springs here.  I make brief stops most mornings at Roberts
sanctuary or other "migrant traps" in town, and today was typical in having
just a handful of passage migrants.  There are not the usual plethora of
Tennessee Warblers on the streets, and when I've been out in the evening
I don't hear any birds flying over.  The Minnesota RVNWR was dead yesterday
morning; other people have seen some species at Wood Lake, and last week
I saw a Black-throated Blue there, but pathetically few species and numbers.

Yeah, my faculties must be slipping, but not that dramatically!  The big
question is, is it just the vagaries of migration, or an environmental catastrophe?
 It's hardly inconceivable that West Nile Virus on top of habitat destruction
here and in the tropics has made the steady decline in populations become
precipitous.  But yesterday at Murphy-Hanrehan, it seemed some of the breeders
were in good numbers (Blue-Winged Warblers and Ovenbirds, and for some observers
in part of the park, Hooded Warblers), so maybe it's just an odd pattern
of migration, though others (Chestnut-sided Warblers and Wood Thrushes) seemed
lacking.  The species that strike me as doing well are all southern -- gnatcatchers,
Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Cooper's Hawk, etc. -- which might be predictable
given the climate warming.

Since I have been lazy and have not kept detailed records over the years,
I don't have quantitative evidence to back this up.  Other people's records
or impressions would be of interest.

Steve Greenfield
Minneapolis