Writing this column has allowed me to meet others who are interested in birds and passionate about nature. I’ve made new friends and many have shared stories. I can count on reports and photos from Mac, Songo Sue, Mary and Ruthie. More than a few are like Mickey. He never failed to tease me when, pre-pandemic, my wife and I would stop into Suds for a pint. His good-natured ribbing always came with a story about a bird he’d seen while hunting or fishing.
Al Falster, Research Technologist at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum, can also be counted on for a good story as well. He recently told me a story from his childhood that is worth retelling.
This fall, reports from New Mexico and other western states reported hundreds of dead birds and many others alive on the ground and clearly incapacitated. The true numbers aren’t known but certainly reached into the hundreds of thousands. This mass die-off shocked many and made news around the world. Scientists are still analyzing samples and testing theories, but the most likely culprits include an unusual cold snap along with the extensive fires and smoke.
Early studies reveal that the birds appeared to have oddly low body fat, suggesting that they had begun migration undernourished and underweight. Migratory birds need to put on extreme levels of body fat in order to complete the feat of long-distance migration. In this instance, it appears these birds were not prepared. Since a disproportionate number of the dead birds were insect eaters, it seems logical to conclude that either they weren’t able to find the insects they needed or something pushed them to migrate befor
Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
After reading the November 12 column, Ruth Blakney contacted me to let me know she had done a little more research into loon relocation. Ruth lives in Brooklyn, CT but has spent summers in western Maine since she was nine.
Ruth did additional research on the Fall River, MA bird which was relocated from upstate New York and successfully raised a chick with its mate this past summer. After multiple attempts, Ruth connected with Gina Purtell, Director at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, a property managed by Mass Audubon. Gina shared the horror of getting a call in April of 2003 informing her a Bouchard barge had run aground, ruptured and spilled 98,000 gallons of oil along the southern Massachusetts coast. Gina rushed to the shoreline and, with others, worked to save the thousands of oil-soaked birds struggling to get out of the water. April is a particularly bad time for an oil spill. Southern New England coasts are a gathering place for thousands of mi