Thanks RL & good question Brian
At IBO’s Lucky Peak field station
where we’ve maintained long-term monitoring of autumn songbird, diurnal
raptor, and forest owl populations for over 20 years, 2018 was a “boom”
year (bigger than average #s for many species, one of our highest totals across 23 seasons to date)
for songbirds followed by one of our lowest years for most species in
2019. 2020 so far looks like a good to great year for many species (including most warblers & sparrows) –
especially considering the recovery needed from a poor 2019 but even
just looking against the long-term average – and it’s scary to think
that some of these individuals that have passed through our region already (&, in our case, been counted for 2020) might have run into this deadly scenario further south on their route.
where we’ve maintained long-term monitoring of autumn songbird, diurnal
raptor, and forest owl populations for over 20 years, 2018 was a “boom”
year (bigger than average #s for many species, one of our highest totals across 23 seasons to date)
for songbirds followed by one of our lowest years for most species in
2019. 2020 so far looks like a good to great year for many species (including most warblers & sparrows) –
especially considering the recovery needed from a poor 2019 but even
just looking against the long-term average – and it’s scary to think
that some of these individuals that have passed through our region already (&, in our case, been counted for 2020) might have run into this deadly scenario further south on their route.
Jay