What has happened to the Scaup numbers!

Mr. Unruh
I always see the october scaup flight here. IMO they move on daylight or lunar cycle, they seem to be lessers.
Now for the greaters, this year numbers were down. Maybe weather related?
Also the winters of 2014 and 2015 we saw a large winter kill. Large numbers could be found on the shoreline dead. This may have effected the numbers that we see here on Erie, Ontario and the Niagara river. On our side of the puddle I've notice a decline in the wild celery reef beds. Not sure why maybe zebra mussels? The cans always liked those areas.
 
I think your greaters came here, because as opposed to normal, we had appeared to have more greaters than lesser by the end of the season!!
 
Hello Patrick, I respect your opinion , but I,m with Vince .P. In his post about huge flights , they were incredible to see .Patrick You are dead on about wild celery disappearing , it seems that pollution has taken its toll on our resources pity the next generation!
 
I remember there was concern about predatory gulls extending their range into the Boreal Forest and killing ducklings. Never heard any more about it but we are seeing lots of blackback gulls and cormorants and not many years ago there were none !!
 
John - Not to get off the subject. I remember fishing Presque Isle Bay with my uncle in the late 50's and early 1960's as a kid. Common Terns, at that time called "Great Lake Terns", were everywhere. Water quality and environment declined, and so did the Common Tern. They are pure Joy to watch in flight.

It did not take long for the Ring-billed Gull to fill the Terns void. Now Ring-bills are everywhere, as are Double Crested Commorants. I'm not certain if it's populations growing and spreading to new areas, or just that the places that they prefer are decreasing at a alarming rate. Recently I read where a motorist was given a court date and a hefty fine for running over several Ring-billed Gulls in a shopping center parking lot.
 
Interesting thoughts on the gulls & cormorants ,maybe their is a biologist somewhere that could comment on this or better yet , what some of the recent findings on the Scaup population!
 
Probably a combination of several factors all combined as opposed to any single reason.

Take in point, Canada Geese. While maybe not exactly the same subject, around here forty years ago, what was a goose? To see a flock winging overhead was like witnessing a total solar eclipse. Now they are a nuisance. In a lot of cases, too many of them around. All due to several factors. Modern farming practices often being touted as a main reason. But also, evolution and adaptation can be credited. They have learned to live amongst us humans.

With the Bluebills, there are several factors to consider, most of them named above. Zebra muscles have to be taken into consideration both as a food source and an environmental changer. The waters they thrive in are now clearer and cleaner, yet may lack an certain amount of nutrients necessary to attract other food for the 'Bills. Add in changing local environments, hunting and predation, and perhaps even adaptation of their own. Birds of all kinds learn where it is best for them to eat, propagate, survive and just live comfortably in general.

I learned a while back, nothing in life stays the same. With us or them. Some things good and some not so good.

Jon
 
Pat, great link to that video.. Wow the thing that hit me between the eyes was 6/1 ratios drakes to hens, it's hard to breed the #s up

I've been all over the board on why broadbills are down. I won't get into it here. But I coming back to think it's carry over capacity..... I don't think the wintering grounds can carry it .
And that's another story for another day.

Phil
 
Jon - The main reason we started to get a healthy resident flock of Giant Canada's in north eastern Ohio and north western Pa. Was mostly due to a man named Ray Sickles. The manager of the Pymatuning Goose Management Area, in PA. Also due to the Mosquito Goose Management are in Ohio. Evidently it got way to healthy, as now the eggs are oiled and the resident goose hunting nothing like it once was.

In the early 60's if you shot a Canada Goose in Mercer County, PA. other hunters would come to see it. They were that scarce. The Pymatuning & Mosquito flocks changed all that in the 70's, till about 4-5 years ago. Also for many years, if you shot a goose within 10 miles of Mosquito Management Area, you had to take it there to be checked. Rules & Regs back then were very strict, and enforced. I hunted both states, 5-6 day a week, all season. Both states had a one Canada Goose limit.
 
Thankyou Pat & the others in this video for your volunteer work banding , & research, one question I have is it known roughly what percentage of Scaup population breed in the Boreal region ?
All the Best, John
 
If you look under Long Point Lesser Scaup they have been leaders in studing the decline led by Scott Petrie...all kinds of info there just around the corner
from you...
 
Good question, lesser scaup aren't found in Europe & Asia but greaters are circumpolar.
Birdlife.org indicates it population is declining in Europe & Asia, but not drastically enough to warrant a change from Least Concern to Vulnerable.
Here is an interesting document, it is only about the EU population, does not include Asia. But it indicates the EU population has dropped 50%:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/hunting/docs/Scaup%20EU_MP.pdf

I did some digging and didn't really find anything specific about the Asian Population..
 
Mr.Thomas , Thankyou for your input,yes I realize L.Point is around the corner from me , as the two biologists that I have talked too who were very informative had the ongoing conclusion of not having enough money to keep continuing studies, I realize Mr. Petrie is much respected in studying this specie, But I believe we need input from Canada & the United States to establish a plan to help the Scaup population.
All the Best ,John
 
carry over capacity..... I don't think the wintering grounds can carry it
Click to expand...

Just curious, wintering habitat where??

I have never heard anyone indicate that this was an issue with overall scaup numbers.
Local wintering numbers: maybe. Continent wide: no.
 
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