Waterfowl die off

[Sean Youngblood]

http://news.yahoo.com/fish-eating-ducks-hard-hit-severe-winter-ice-163621475.html

[Gill-T]

There are all kinds of divers down below the peace bridge dragging up mussels from the bottom.  In speaking to a bird watcher down at the water, the gentleman stated there is a huge die-off in Dunkirk harbor.  I don't believe the power plant is operational so no open water.  One of the interesting things that can be witnessed now is a large group of Bald Eagles picking off the weak starving birds sitting on the ice at Dunkirk.  Ice fishermen are confirming a huge die-off of Gizzard Shad, but at the same time a huge population of large smelt are being caught thru the ice on Erie.  The food web appears to be evolving year to year.

[times two]

The power plant doesn't put out the heat like it used to.  Outer harbor was frozen all the way over

for much of last 2 months.   Opened up some the last few days, and we are starting to see the

chucks of ice starting to stack up more offshore.....

 

Lots of dead shad...looks like more than normally, but I suspect its because they have no

were to get blown to.    We did have a number of duck literally "freezing" to the ice, then they

fell victim to the eagles and gulls.   I'm told by my duck hunter friends that as a whole they

were very underfed.