19/08/2004

Birds in the Bush

It's the down side of being a small world. Things get around and even though deserts aren't mosquitoes friendly places, the West Nile virus has finally gotten around to Nevada.

No mosquitoes, please.

The advance of the virus is tracked by the trail of dead birds left in its wake but, as usual, anything other than human is suffering gets little press. The Reno Gazette-Journel did publish a good article on the subject though. It's definitely worth a read. I sure hope Plonk will be okay. At least he's been around lately. I haven't seen his girlfriend though so I'm worried about her. I'm worried about them all... the roudy, morning bunch of crows, the tiny finches, sparrows, and big, lovely magpies. They are all at risk, and perhaps the crows in particular. And I've been complaining about them. How quickly things can change. Sad. Very sad.

Plonk (L) and his girlfriend.

2 comments:

Kristiana said...

That is so sad. How many birds are we talking here? Epidemic? Have you seen a decrease in the number of your birds?

asha said...

Well, as usual, stats for anyone other than human are scarce. We are so damn myopic. Most of the information about this is anecdotal. If the RGJ article is any indicator, hard times have fallen upon the birds. Read the "Related Link". Here's an excerpt from it.

“About three weeks ago, I could go out and tap the fence with a stick and 18 or 20 magpies would come,” Salony said. “Now I’ve got just one magpie.”

It's the same for my backyard Birdland. Not a month ago the chatter of the crows woke me every day at dawn. I was complaining about them and kind of embarassed for all the ruckus. This morning, I heard one fellow briefly and at the moment, the place is empty. :(