No title

The Department of Natural Resources is reporting bird die-offs on two Minnesota lakes.

[JCP]

must be global warming

[Baldie]

Must have been from the mercury in the fish, huh?

[Evil is Real]

I beg to differ. It is obviously contact with the dim-witted inarticulate fuming of posters here. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

[JCP]

Evil is Real wrote:

I beg to differ. It is obviously contact with the dim-witted inarticulate fuming of posters here. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Al Gore is the cause of this

[not an accident]

This was not an accident. Somebody poisoned the cormorants....

[ZenBirdist]

This is alarming news to me as a birdist. Avians are the sentinels of our environment, and when something subtle (to us) is amiss way down on the ecological food chain birds are often our first visible clue. Not to mention that it's sad to see such beautiful creatures expiring en masse. I hope the DNR is able to find the cause of the die-offs quickly.

[algore]

It couldn't happen to a nastier bunch of birds. They are all proven fish eating machines that need to be controlled.

[Kacy]

ZenBirdist wrote:

This is alarming news to me as a birdist. Avians are the sentinels of our environment, and when something subtle (to us) is amiss way down on the ecological food chain birds are often our first visible clue. Not to mention that it's sad to see such beautiful creatures expiring en masse. I hope the DNR is able to find the cause of the die-offs quickly.

I'm with ya... but unfortunately you probably won't find much sympathy here, as I'm sure you are aware. I predict there will be chicken mcnugget jokes and Al Gore rants somewhere in the next 5 posts.

[inminn]

Non-native cormorants have decimated fisheries in Ontario and in other northern areas. When these birds show up in areas with ample feed stock, fishermen and businesses dependant on them, should beware of what will follow.
Cormorants are incredibly effective at consuming fingerlings that small mouth and other sport fish depend upon. Their nesting sites are also highly toxic and runoff from these sites pollute the water. Look at a map of Ontario and understand how big Georgian Bay is. Cormorants have reduced the fingerlings there to such an extent that small mouth populations have dropped dramatically. In just a decade.
It is imperative that DNR policy makers adopt lethal and nonlethal measures to curb cormorant populations whereever they occur.

[Mark]

ZenBirdist wrote:

This is alarming news to me as a birdist. Avians are the sentinels of our environment, and when something subtle (to us) is amiss way down on the ecological food chain birds are often our first visible clue. Not to mention that it's sad to see such beautiful creatures expiring en masse. I hope the DNR is able to find the cause of the die-offs quickly.

Better than I could have said it. Are bird watchers called "birdists" in the US? In Britain, they're sometimes called "twitchers," seriously! I do not know if that is where the British put-down of "twit" gets its origin. If not for birdists/twitchers, whatever, we wouldn't know much about avian migratory routes, or when it's unusual to see a particular species in-State.

[Owl Gore]

As a twitcher, I resent being called a twitcher.

[inminn]

not an accident wrote:

This was not an accident. Somebody poisoned the cormorants....

I regret the death of the blue heron mentioned in the story, but cormorants are the rats of the bird world and should be aggressively depopulated.

[Emerald Green]

not an accident wrote:

This was not an accident. Somebody poisoned the cormorants....

You say that with such conviction....Do you know something?

[ZenBirdist]

Kacy: Thanks! Right you are, this is the LAST place one would go for sympathy. I just couldn't stop the fingers from typing it despite myself.

Mark: In the U.S. we call ourselves birders or birdists. Others call us nerds and dorks, LOL. Hmm, I must look up the origin of 'twit'!

[Emerald Green]

inminn wrote:

Non-native cormorants have decimated fisheries in Ontario and in other northern areas. When these birds show up in areas with ample feed stock, fishermen and businesses dependant on them, should beware of what will follow.
Cormorants are incredibly effective at consuming fingerlings that small mouth and other sport fish depend upon. Their nesting sites are also highly toxic and runoff from these sites pollute the water. Look at a map of Ontario and understand how big Georgian Bay is. Cormorants have reduced the fingerlings there to such an extent that small mouth populations have dropped dramatically. In just a decade.
It is imperative that DNR policy makers adopt lethal and nonlethal measures to curb cormorant populations whereever they occur.

Perhaps the DNR should respond to this observation.

[chicken nuggets took ten]

a sandwich walks into a bar and says he wants a menu. The bartender says, "we don't serve sandwiches her".

[4 Brett from Kiln]

It's the Packer's fault for not welcoming me back with open arms and a big bag of money. How many more rats with wings must die before they come to their senses!

[muD]

Cormorants are native to North America. The fact they are making a comeback does not make them a non-native species that need a control plan or extirpation.

It is only logical to do a toxicological screen on them. Some fishermen have an irrational hatred of cormorants. While there may be many possible causes, poisoning is definitely near the top of the list.

[Former DFLer]

Mmmmm Cormorant..........

[inminn]

muD wrote:

Cormorants are native to North America. The fact they are making a comeback does not make them a non-native species that need a control plan or extirpation.
It is only logical to do a toxicological screen on them. Some fishermen have an irrational hatred of cormorants. While there may be many possible causes, poisoning is definitely near the top of the list.

If you don't believe me, ask the Ontario DNR. They spent years debating and studying this. Every opportunity was granted to hear endless circular reasonings on behalf of the cormorants. The end result of this powerful example of agency leadership is a fully successful invasion of a predatory species who had not previously lived there. Hence, my use of the term non-native. As for our dislike for cormorants, well, nothing will strip a lake of its natural resources faster than a flock of those black winged death mutants from hell. How's that? Now, please, toxicological screening? Pls explain.