Date: 9/7/26 8:13 am From: Dick Hughes <hughesful...> Subject: Re: [MASSBIRD] September 7, 2026 Northern Essex County: Anyone else had a large drop in yardbird activity past few days?
Hi Matt,
Very interesting topic, thanks! I’ve lived for 20 years in the Rowley woods
in terrain and habitat similar to nearby Georgetown-Rowley and Willowdale
State Forests. My yearly bulk seed order hasn’t varied much over the years.
The ups and downs of my backyard birds seem to not have a completely clear
pattern, with a couple of exceptions.
First, a lot fewer Chickadees. That’s consistent both at my feeders and in
the woods. Next, a lot more Titmouses. Haven’t seen more than 1 Hairy
Woodpecker in the neighborhood for 5 years, whereas 20 years ago they were
a daily treat. Feeder visits from Red Bellies are declining.
It’s been a bumper year for Chipping Sparrows, but 2 years ago almost
none. I hesitate to speculate on explanations, but I’ve noticed a
consistent drop off of several species’ feeder visits in the 2nd half of
August - Goldfinches, House Finches and Chipping Sparrows are mostly gone
from my neighborhood.
Best,
Dick Hughes
On Mon, Sep 7, 2026 at 9:03 AM Matt S. <accipiter22...> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I live in New Hampshire, but my yard abuts Merrimac, and, nearly,
> Haverhill. I've noticed that starting on Saturday the 5th there appears to
> have been a huge drop in bird activity in my yard, and squirrel numbers as
> well. Typically I need to refill my feeders daily, but the food I put out
> in the early evening of the 5th is still untouched, and my feeders remain
> full. As long as I've lived here I have never had my tube feeder last more
> than a day, and now we're almost at 2, and the feeder is basically
> untouched. I saw one chickadee one time yesterday.
>
> I also have a Birdweather PUC that records the bird sounds in my yard, and
> lists them out by species with the number of times each species was heard.
> Around this time of year I would expect to have at least 15 species picked
> up, and probably closer to 20, and most of those picked up a couple dozen
> times. Yesterday it picked up 6 species, and most of those once or twice,
> aside from a Bluejay which was picked up maybe 12 times.
>
> I thought maybe there was a raptor roosting nearby, but I did not see
> anything in the woods around the feeder when I looked, and other than the
> usual red-tailed hawks and barred owls which are always around, I have not
> seen anything unusual.
>
> Anyone else in the area noticing this? Perhaps in northern Essex County?
> It's not from migration, since a good chunk of these birds would be
> residents, and I have data from previous year showing roughly what to
> expect. I put my feeder on a new shepherd's hook since the previous one
> broke, and thought maybe they did not like it, but again squirrels wouldn't
> probably care about this. Plus, it's not just lower feeder visits, it's my
> whole yard, since the listening device isn't picking up anything either.
>
> That's all for now,
>
> Matt S.
> Newton, NH
> <Accipiter22...>
>
