Brutal Winter's Impacts Upon Water Birds

Visiting Canada goose during temporary fair weather. He and flock were gone the next day as temperatures took dive.

"Snow, snow go away. Come around another day."

Frozen ducks on ice.

Scrambling for long fallen chestnut remnants.

While both national and local media has widely covered the brutal winter befalling most of the country and its effects upon humans, virtually nothing has been reported of this merciless season's devastating impact upon wildlife.

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That is, until recently:

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http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/long-brutal-winter-starving-waterfowl-247205501.html

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There can be little question that this particular winter is already and will result in staggering losses to birds and wildlife of all kinds. Not only from the standpoint of starvation due to deep snow and frozen watercourses cutting off food supplies, but also the anticipated floods to come when spring ice sheets finally melt and over-swell rivers, streams and ponds. Eggs of many ground nesting waterfowl will be lost in rising flood waters and many animals will be forced into retreat from low lying land areas.

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Personally, I have seen startling changes in the waterfowl in just my small egosystem, Central Park.

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During an average New York City winter, more than 200 Canada geese and a variety of ducks would stay for approximately six weeks at Central Park's Jackie Onassis Reservoir.

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The migratory geese and ducks arrived early in January as expected.

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But, they were there less than a couple of weeks before steady sub-freezing temperatures, numerous snow storms and finally a completely iced over Reservoir drove them out.

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Geese left several days before weather took its unyielding plunge, so it's presumed they still had time to fly south or make other adjustments. But, its anyone's guess where the migratory ducks went.

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Mallards toughing it out in Central Park this winter have not had an easy time of it.

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Virtually all watercourses are entirely iced over with the exception of small pools of open water still at the Boat Lake and South Pond.

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When snow is covering the ground (as it has for most of the winter) the birds are cut off from nearly all food sources.

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In recent days, I have seen mallards scrambling for long fallen chestnuts on the ground that were apparently softened from the snow. And it has become common to see them squatting on ice or frozen ground in seeming attempt to keep their legs reasonably protected from bone chilling cold.

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Perhaps though, the most startling behavior change on part of the mallards is their willingness and in fact, eagerness to directly eat from human hands (something very unusual for mallards).

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Despite my and a few other people's attempts to pull the mallards though this harsh and unrelenting winter by feeding, a number of the birds have perished both in Central Park and Prospect Park that we know about.

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Recently, a mute swan at Prospect Park was also found dead on the ice.

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As for the few geese remaining locally, a couple of them had to be rescued recently from Prospect Park, one of whom was entangled in fishing line.

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There are still a mated pair of geese toughing out the winter (and Geese Police) at the Boat Lake in Central Park and there are a couple of gaggles of Canada geese occasionally dropping into Harlem Meer and the Boat Lake -- but only when the weather is reasonably nice.

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As mentioned numerous times in this blog, I would know what old man winter has in store just by noting the behavior of the geese.  -- When the geese show up, you know you are in for some fair weather.  When they leave, you know things are about to turn to crap either with heavy snow or fast diving temperatures.

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The five geese at Harlem Meer this past weekend for example (when temperatures swelled to mid 50's) were gone by Sunday evening.  Since then, temps plummeted to 12 degrees this morning.

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I still don't know where these geese go when they leave Central Park.  But, its got to be some place with decent cover from punishing winds and presumably still containing some open water.

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Its just hard these days to figure out anywhere on the East Coast (or for that matter, most of the country) that might be.

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For now, my 50 or so, die-hard mallards at the Meer are still scouring the grounds for any remnants of broken chestnuts and perfecting their skating skills on frozen blocks of ice.

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I can't in fact, remember the last time I saw open, moving water at either Harlem Meer or the Jackie Onassis Reservoir.

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Hopefully, both watercourses will be thawed out by June and the ducks and geese can once again swim. -- PCA

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