Another phenomenon I noticed:
I kept a 1990 edition of Peterson’s field guide to North American birds until I gave it away last year. In between, I had bought the 2010 edition.
In going through both books page by page, side by side, I saw that whenever a species changed where it lived, the shift ALWAYS had northerly component. No exceptions. This shift occurred over only 20 years.
At our old house in the CO Front Range foothills, the climate changed noticeably within 15 years. The extremes in temperature and precipitation got wider. It felt like spring and autumn shrank, with sudden shifts between summer and winter.
Just because natural climate changes happen does not mean people are off the hook for accelerating the process. These kinds of changes should not be noticeable insuch compressed time spans.
In the long run it doesn’t matter what our opinions are. But to do nothing is putting a lot of trust in our own perhaps misguided egos
I too notice many Red Bellied Woodpeckers. My old Petersen field guide has them. There could be other factors as the article alludes to.
@pikabike said:
Another phenomenon I noticed:
In going through both books page by page, side by side, I saw that whenever a species changed where it lived, the shift ALWAYS had northerly component. No exceptions. …
Yes, I’ve noticed some of that except the Canada Goose. There seems to be more in Georgia and Florida every year. Y’all can have 'em back.
Get rid of lawns and you get rid of geese.
We have strict laws regarding shoreline vegetation and not being allowed to clear to the water keeps the goose elsewhere. The loons are ergo happier. I know that you down south have to hunt around the ocean and salt marshes to find loons and never will see one in the summer though
@kayamedic said:
Get rid of lawns and you get rid of geese.
Lawns yes, but the neighbor that feeds them cracked corn is harder to remove.
On our yard, I use a flat coat retriever. The geese are excited about my planters(nesting boxes) on the bulkhead and the dog ramp (gosling ramp). They stand on the ramp and dock honking like an excited human couple looking at their first house to raise a family. Then, I let the dog out. The geese are impressed by a large trained hunter/retriever running at them with flashing teeth and a big bark. Little do they know he’s getting old and only brings back dead ducks, and bumpers. 
I see the loons around the marshes and rivers in the winter time. They don’t come around houses much.
Loons are kind of secretive and clad in bankers suits in the winter. We do like to look for them on the ocean and in Florida…That Northern Diver is really a snowbird.
I suggest a potato gun for the neighbor… Or maybe for the geese too.