MILD IS THE WORD By Mark McKellar Milder conditions reduce the need for northern bird like this junco to come this far south. Photo courtesy of Steve Dillinger I know I’m weird but I love cold weather. Growing up in eastern North Carolina (where it rarely snows) I would watch shows with snow in them and get jealous. Now that I live where it is supposed to snow at least a couple of times each winter, years like this one “bum me out”. It saves us on our heating bills but what kind of affect does is have on birds and other wildlife? There is a great difference between warm stretches of weather and what we are experiencing this year. The weather patterns since mid December are being felt over much of the lower 2/3 of our nation and it has affected bird movement on a large scale. In our region, bird feeder stations have been even further affected by the mild temperatures by what many have described as a bumper crop of natural foods (berries, seeds, acorns, walnuts, etc.). It goes without saying, but bird movement patterns are greatly affected by weather. The reason we go to Squaw Creek for our eagle watching trip in late November each year is because in a typical winter, the refuge is frozen over before Christmas. They currently have open water, lots of waterfowl and over 100 eagles still hanging around. Even southern birds like this Red-shouldered Hawk have shown up in our area this mild winter. Photo courtesy of Rick Jordahl Food needs are also altered by weather conditions. Why eat as much seed when you can get juicy bugs. My cousins in North and South Carolina who have been feeding birds for many years say they’ve never seen anything like this year. They have had absolutely no birds at their feeders yet. I filled my mom’s feeders in early November when I was out there, only to find that not a single seed appeared to be missing when we went back at Christmas. She did tell me that this past week she has seen a few birds starting to come in. Our customers are reporting a mix of feeder conditions. Some folks have tons of goldfinches but few other birds. Some have precious few birds at all. Will it change? Typically, when we have a year of abundant natural food, feeders are slow early in the fall and gradually pick up and are busiest in the late winter/early spring. Will that be the case this year? No one knows for sure, but until then, enjoy the lower heating bills.

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