Birds tend to fluctuate from year to year everywhere I’ve been. Grackles are pretty numerous here (east Texas) I see them picking bugs from the grilles of cars in a lot of parking lots.
We don’t seem to have many Starlings, good riddance. They were imported from Europe many years ago and have forced native birds out of their native habitat, became a nuisance in short order because they have no natural enemies here. Same as European House Sparrow.
Some bozo in New York in the 1700’s decided all of the birds in Shakespeare’s plays needed to be in New York and imported Starlings and European House Sparrows. In 20 years New York was paying people to kill the sparrows they were such a nuisance, by 75 years later they had spread as far as Texas, Florida and Oklahoma.
Very few Red Wing Blackbirds here to begin with. I saw loads in north Louisiana, they migrate there in winter every year by the thousands. Here, 5 hours southwest of there, I’ve always seen very few in 20 years. Neither has any natural enemies here, except house cats, and both force native birds out of their natural habitat.
Other birds do the same though, one year I’ll see dozens of Goldfinches here in winter, next year only 3 or 4. This last winter I only saw maybe a half dozen. This summer I’m seeing more Orchard Orioles than last year, and fewer Summer Tanagers. Plenty Indigo Buntings, not many Yellow Breasted Chats.
It’s not just birds though. My garden did nothing this year, my neighbors are telling me the same. I’m a photographer - birds, wildlife and, flowers and insects. I’m seeing far fewer wildflowers this year and insects too.
Last spring we had patches of Indian Paintbrushes that were good size sections of roadsides pure red, this year just a few here and there. Same for everything. No huge yellow patches of Brown Eyed Susans all over the place, just a few small stands.
If you’re interested, I’ll plug my photography
http://www.flickr.com/paleopete
Might have somthin’ to do with E. Texas being waterlogged for the first 6 months this year. ;-)
Beautiful pictures
I didn’t see any domestic bees on the flowers this summer and I only saw a handful of butterflies. There were a scattering of fireflies, but nothing compared to how many there were five or six years ago.