Where have all the birds gone????

This is starting to freak me out folks! Today we took a drive to the coast to go hiking at Pescadero Marsh. This is a salt water marsh were the migrating birds stop over....we went with binoculars and bird book in hand. Where are the birds??!!! This area use to be teaming with birds...we saw: 3 hawks...2 snowy egrets...2 mallards and maybe a dozen terns...and a family of 4 humans who stood in the middle of the trail blocking it and could barely move their rude behinds when we said excuse us. We stood quietly (despite the ruckus from one child who clearly was not enjoying his walk in nature) hoping for the best. Was our timing off...do they fly away when they know we are coming? I left a little worried because:

1)Over Thanksgiving we decided on Pacific Grove as our not cooking get-away specifically because this time of year the Monarch Butterfly cover the trees...we went at the peak of the season...guess what? We saw exactly 3 butterflies...we stood with others just waiting for them to come back to the trees.....they just weren't there! The news said they were at 20 percent of what there normally is.

2) I have both a rosemary hedge and a bunch of oregano patches, I also plant my garden with plants that attract bees and butterflies.... normally the bubble bees cover the plants when they flower...for the last 2 years I have seen 2 bees and maybe 3 butterflies.

Just wondering what is going on...is it evolution...global warming ...bad karma...cell phones...evasion of aliens?? the times they are a changing...just in case...am gonna plant lots of fox glove this year...hoping against hope that the nature that makes our world beautiful and balanced comes back.

Sorry folks...just had to get that off my chest....whew!