On Sunday, I took an injured squirrel over to Second Chance Wildlife Center and they had a very long line of people bringing in storm-injured wildlife. It looked like most of the animals were squirrels. Our feeder bird numbers have been pretty steady since the storm, but we do seem to have fewer squirrels.
Jackie Cooper
Rockville, MD
-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Long
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2011 11:43 AM
To:
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Hurricane mortality?
Since the hurricane, we have been seeing substantially fewer birds and squirrels in the yards of two homes.
I had to deal with two houses on opposite sides of the Bay during the storm.
At the one I left unattended, I filled all the feeders and left them up, then left for 3 days. The tube feeder was empty when I got back, which is normal after 3 days. But, it has hardly dropped in the last 3 days, since I refilled it. The other feeders still had some seed. All feeders, including the hummer feeder, survived the storm intact. I seem to be seeing all the usual species, including hummers, just many fewer of each. And, strangely, I have not seen a single squirrel here for 3 days, but there were almost always several in view any time of every day before the storm. There were some large branches down and a lot of shreaded leaves, but the area was not devastated -- most trees are standing with many leaves still on branches.
At the other house, I took the feeders in several hours before the storm was predicted to get intense. The birds were numerous before the storm, and they obviously missed the feeders. But, considering the exposure there, it was just too likely that one would get blown through a window, so they had to come down. After the storm, I put the feeders back within a few hours of daylight. The birds were slow to return, but some came back. And there were a few squirrels. But, again, the numbers of birds and squirrels seems greatly reduced.
I have not found any dead birds or squirrels, but that may not mean much if they died where they were trying to shelter from the storm. I can understand birds may have left the area, but that doesn't explain the issue with the squirrel population.
Others have posted that they have noticed fewer birds, too.
Is there any scientific information on wildlife mortality from storm conditions such as we had around here from Irene?
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