Bizarrely, I have seen more Kildeer this year than in decades, back when every pasture had at least one pair.
Weirder yet, we get flocks of seagulls way out here in the mountains.
Sometimes I wonder if they know something’s coming.
:D
I ya en’t seen a killdeer I some gimd. Seagulls in the high school football fields are a sure sign off a storm, here. If we’re being seriously pounded, I might find Red Headed Ducks in the local park pond. There are coves along the coast that are protected from storms blowing out of the southwest. Winds can be nearly 100mph on top, but when you duck down into the cove, it’s very calm, and there’s a nice rain shadow. I can count on finding Harlequin Ducks hiding in them. Lots of sea lions, too. Walking the beaches after a storm will turn up quite a few dead diving birds...murres and puffins...so it gets pretty brutal off-shore.
The world is pretty hostile to birds. Variations in food supplies, and the weather, force them to relocate. I’m pretty sure that there’s been a general decline in song bird numbers for decades.