I have been following this story (“Where have the birds gone?” Renton Reporter, Feb. 22, 2013) since it first appeared. I have also, since being made aware of it, seen an overwhelming lack of hummingbirds in my yard. I initially attributed this decline to some ongoing activity in April while I had some work done. Since then I have seen one hummer!

I live in Victoria Park, which has a greenbelt which runs though it where many of these birds nest(ed). We have a small protected area between the properties behind us that was left to nature as the hummingbirds were nesting there for the last eight years. They came each day on a regular schedule, flying and diving from the neighbors’ feeders and plantings to ours, and back again from sunrise to dusk.

We have seen goldfinches and sparrows but certainly the variety of birds has dropped drastically since this time last year.

I would then ask as well, Where have all the birds gone? Predators? Likely not, since the only predator of birds were the neighborhood cats, but the coyote(s) got most of them last year.  And, if we did have a mid to large predator, surely the rabbits that live in the greenbelt would be gone as well, and they are quite active right now.

In closing, it appears that Mr. Oulette’s neighborhood of Rolling Hills is not the only one where the birds are missing. It may not be the meters, but something is certainly amiss, and if not the meters, then what?

And I, for one, miss the birds.

April Naversen,
Renton