Text 3781, 98 rader
Skriven 2007-03-20 16:27:22 av Alan Hess
Ärende: change affecting birds
==============================
Chesapeake Bay duck hunters are seeing fewer of some of their target species,
as warmer winters are keeping those species further north.  Reduction of bay
grasses due to pollution and waterfront development is also a factor in the
duck decline (as it is in decline of the population of Chesapeake Bay blue
crabs, which are not discussed in this article, but are discussed by crab
harvesters, pickers, and eaters.)

****************

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.ducks19mar19,0,5231374.story

From the Baltimore Sun
Warm winter keeps ducks out of the Chesapeake


By Rona Kobell
sun reporter

March 19, 2007

The canvasback duck - a once-abundant bird prized for its majestic looks as
well as its delicious meat - has become rarer in Maryland, according to a new
state study.

Department of Natural Resources officials counted 13,700 canvasbacks during
their annual midwinter waterfowl survey, which tracks about 20 species of ducks
and geese that fly south each winter. That marked a precipitous drop from the
four previous years, when canvasback numbers hovered between 30,000 and 40,000
during the annual count.

The survey found declines in other species of ducks as well, and recorded the
lowest numbers of waterfowl in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay in five
years.

The dearth of ducks has not gone unnoticed by hunters.

"I'm almost 50 now, and it's been one of the worst duck hunting seasons I've
seen in my entire life, for any kind of duck," said Bob Jobes, a duck decoy
carver, hunter and boat captain who is based in Havre de Grace.

"A group asked me to take them out this year, and I said, 'If you want to go
out there and stand in the water and look in the water, that's about all we're
going to do,'" Jobes said.

Waterfowl specialist Larry Hindman, who conducts the department's surveys, said
an unseasonably warm winter is to blame for the lack of canvasbacks, which
decided to spend much of the season in the Great Lakes area. Federal data show
that the russet-necked, white-feathered birds are breeding at a stable rate
nationwide and that the continental population is relatively high.

In the 1950s, nearly 250,000 canvasbacks - about half the North American winter
population - wintered in the Chesapeake Bay, according to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. Thousands of those birds flocked to the Susquehanna Flats
near Havre de Grace, where they dined on the plentiful wild celery grasses and
helped drive a hunting industry. The number of ducks in Maryland has fallen in
part because much of the grasses that were their food source have been
destroyed.

The canvasback hunting season is short, usually lasting less than a month, and
hunters are allowed to bag only one bird a day - regulations put in place to
help stabilize the population. Still, it's one of the most sought-after birds,
known for its juicy meat and its rich colors.

"They're sort of the duck king of the Chesapeake, whereas the Canada goose is
the goose king and the rockfish is the fish king," said Paul Peditto, DNR's
wildlife and heritage director.

Bruce Batt, chief biologist for Ducks Unlimited, a waterfowl and wetlands
conservation group, said the canvasback's reputation reaches far and wide.

"An awful lot of the traditions of duck hunting were built around diving ducks
in general, but especially the canvasback," he said. "It's considered to be one
of the best birds at the table."

Batt said climate change is throwing the bird world out of whack. Like the
canvasbacks, which are wintering farther north, mallards that once spent the
cold months in Mississippi and Arkansas are instead spending the season in
Missouri and Kansas. The blue-winged teal, which typically rides out the winter
in Cuba and South America, has switched locales to Louisiana and Texas.

"Climate change is the story," Batt said. "Nobody knows how this is all going
to shake out in the long run, and each species is a little different."

Jim Kohlhaus, an employee at Albright's Gun Shop in Easton, thinks the climate
change argument is "debatable." But what has been clear on the Eastern Shore,
where waterfowl hunting supports many gun shops and charter boat businesses in
the winter, is that warmer weather has cut into profits.

"When you get weather that's 60 to 70 degrees outside, I don't care if you get
a million ducks on the water, they're not going to fly," Kohlhaus said. "You
have to have nasty weather for those birds to fly."

rona.kobell@baltsun.com

Copyright + 2007, The Baltimore Sun | Get Sun home delivery

--- Msged/2 6.0.1
 * Origin: tncbbs.no-ip.com - Try the CROSSFIRE echo - all welcome (1:261/1000)