Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 18:22:11 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Re: Huntley Meadows (what's happened?) In-Reply-To: Message of Tue, 1 May 2001 17:29:29 -0400 from My vote is that the geese have been doing a number - CCA-treated wood *can* be a problem when it starts to break down, but primarily in marine habitats and then primarily to invertebrates. Water levels are also very low at Huntley and this is not helping. But goose tracks are everywhere, and they can "put away" a lot of green stuff. Not helped by the late spring and modest growth at this stage. Certainly the deer on the upland are also contributing to erosion -- when you walk into the park, it looks as if someone has come through and carefully pruned every tree below 4' -- and the undergrowth is also going fast. There is also a lot of silt coming in from developed areas upstream. Birds in general have been late arriving this year so let's see how it all pans out. But certainly the King Rails seem to be missing in action. I was told by a couple of regulars that many (all?) of these died during the winter when the pool was totally frozen. Anyone know more on this event? (Also told that King Rails reported recently this spring are probably only transients -- although hopefully they may stay on.) Gail Mackiernan Colesville, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================