i wonder about the history of the El Nino and La Nina weather patterns ? Is this just a recent phenom or has it been going on for 10,000 years? Would it be possible to build a model that takes us back in weather time to see how they affected the landscape and animal kingdoms? Personally i like El Nino! It means rain wherever i've been during their process ~ Los Angeles in wetter days and now Billings, MT ~ experienced two since being here and does it ever make for great birding wetlands! And this year is no different ~ snow in the Bearthooths %200 of normal and now lots of rain as well as HAIL and Thunderstorms. Did the El Nino effect have anything to do with our Winter? and come migration time do birds make allowances for these weather patterns?