Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 20:56:51 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sherry Peruzzi Subject: Article in Washington Post MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The Metro section of today's Washington Post has a very interesting article on the disappearance of tundra swans from Maryland, which the article says is the only place where their numbers have been declining. For those who don't get the Post, the complete article can be found at: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43131-2001Jan24.html Here are the first few paragraphs: Trying to Solve an Avian Vanishing Act Since the end of the Ice Age, they have made their way from their nests in the arctic north to the Chesapeake Bay area, where they spend winters resting and fattening up on seeds and underwater grasses. This much about the tundra swans, scientists know. But beyond that and the birds' numbers, which have been tracked since the 1950s, little is known about their survival rates and migratory and feeding habits. Or, for that matter, why they've started to disappear from the waters of Maryland. Which is why a team of biologists found itself hip deep in a secluded span of water on the Eastern Shore this week grappling with a flock of the birds, in the hopes of fitting several with radio or satellite tracking devices. Biologists in Virginia were undertaking a similar task yesterday, lying in wait with hand-held net guns to capture and equip a number of birds there with radio transmitters. Sherry Peruzzi bookworms@home.com Columbia (Howard County) ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================