Alicia, Thanks for reading and summarizing the material from the Bobolink project (operated in Massachusetts, but apparently run by Alan Strong from the University of Vermont).
Just a reminder that this thread started as a reaction to Cornell mowing hayfields near the Equine Research farm. Then it expanded to include private farmers. Then it expanded to include public agencies, including the City of Ithaca (I am guilty of that one), DEC, Fingerlakes National Forest, and perhaps others. What might work to protect state-listed breeding grassland birds of concern (namely Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, Savannah Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Upland Sandpiper, Sedge Wren, Short-eared Owl, and Northern Harrier) on Cornell land vs. private farms vs. public lands likely would differ. Even the communication channels for these are vastly different. I suggest we focus our attention on Cornell lands for now, with assistance provided to any private landowners (e.g., Rachel) who would like information, ideas, nest-searching labor, etc. We have administrative connections between the Lab of O, Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, and other university units, plus opportunities to pursue through the university's sustainability initiative. Cornell owns a huge amount of land in Tompkins County, and a substantial amount of that is in grass hay, with an even larger amount of land in other "grassy" habitat that is not mowed for hay, but could be managed to promote grass growth rather than being allowed to revert to old field. Savannah Sparrow will nest in old fields, but the other birds listed above don't really like it. To answer Dave N's questions -- yes, DEC manages various parcels around the state for grassland birds. It does rent out some fields for haying or other crops, but those rental agreements have conservation provisions. The Fingerlakes National Forest has been a trend-setter in grassland bird management since at least the 1980s, and perhaps before that. So, governmental agencies do follow their own guidelines and work to conserve grassland birds as best they can considering competing interests. Suan's idea of trying to locate and mark nests so they can be mowed around is noble, but as Anne mentioned, an absolutely huge undertaking. We could try it as an experiment on Rachels property (or Reuben's) if they are interested. For several years, I have done grassland bird surveys in areas with proposed wind and solar development projects. This year, I survey 26 points within grass-dominated fields up in Oneida County. This involves weekly 5-minute point counts at those locations, with "meander" surveys in between where I walk through appropriate habitat and record the number and type of every bird I can see or hear. Some of the grass hay fields have from a few to about 20 Bobolinks within a 100m circle around my count point. Even this morning, I saw many birds with food for young that sat on a tall piece of grass scolding me mercifully until my count was done and I moved on. When I am in the field, these birds do not go to their nest. They wait out the "predator." Over a 3 year period, with more than 75 survey points in 3 different counties, I have never found a Bobolink nest although I have seen many dozens of Bobolinks. Let me be clear -- my job is not to find nests. It is to record numbers of individuals of each species (males and females to the degree possible, within 100m and outside of 100m from the point, and in between points). I also record the highest breeding code that is appropriate. Earlier this year, I did find a Savannah Sparrow nest by pure accident -- the bird (which I did not know was there) flushed from my feet as I walked back to the car. So, it can be done. But the effort is huge. If it is a good quality field, there could be dozens of nests of these listed species in a single field. How would you mow that to allow haying and not make little islands that predators would key in on? From a practical standpoint, I am not sure if nest marking would be beneficial. I survey grass hayfields, old fields, and wet meadows. Bobolinks, Meadowlarks, and even Savannah Sparrows all prefer and use most heavily the grass hay fields. I find very little evidence of anything other than feeding and resting by Bobolinks and Meadowlarks in fields that are dominated by forbs (non-grassy vegetation). Mowing those fields late in the summer to manage them for grass, even if they will not be hayed, would be great. Cornell has lots and lots of land in that old-field habitat. Second to last point. The research about mowing first cut of hay early (before 15 May) and then not touching the field for 60-65 days could potentially work here. Cornell could get a first cut of quality hay off the field, and as it regrows, the grassland birds will return to those fields and nest in them. I have seen that first-hand in my field work. Savannah Sparrows will return first, followed by Meadowlarks, and then Bobolinks (usually). By the time the regrown grass is knee high, all those birds will be back using it. Last point. Even just tackling the issue on Cornell land (with some key private landowners as demonstration areas, perhaps) will take tremendous capacity. It's not a job for one person or even one type of person. We need grassland CHAMPIONS to lead, organize, and make decisions. We need AMBASSADORS to communicate with the key players and to relay our interests, concerns, and priorities, and who can identify and enlist allies if needed. We need GAWK STARS who go beyond just looking at wildlife, and who can turn their interest and passion into data for decision-making by monitoring fields for the birds of interest. Along the way, we need to inform DIRT WARRIORS who manage the land and vegetation to provide the best possible chance of conserving these birds. What role do you want to take on? Jody Jody W. Enck, PhD Conservation Social Scientist, and Founder of the Sister Bird Club Network 607-379-5940 On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 2:28 PM Alicia <[email protected]> wrote: > *Paying farmers**:* It's worth considering paying farmers to manage > farmland to accommodate nesting birds, but it isn't $10 per farmer, farmers > were paid $50/acre for the 2019 growing season by the Bobolink Project. > Bobolinks like large fields, the bigger the better., so the Bobolink > Project requires a minimum grassland field size of 20 acres. At 2019 > rates, that meant one minimally sized field cost $1000/yr. Upland > sandpipers generally require 100 acres - $5000/yr. Probably why in 2021 > their fundraising protected only 1,159 acres statewide - much better than > nothing, but not a large area. That is in Massachusetts and acreage > protection could cost more or less here, but probably not much less since > grassland is farmed to produce hay, which is not cheap. > > *Discouraging birds from nesting**:* With regard to Geo's point on > discouraging nesting where mowing will be done, MassAudubon, which runs > the Bobolink Project, recommends > <https://www.massaudubon.org/content/download/19413/274073/file/Best-Management-Practices_Grasslands.pdf> > : > > If a field must be mowed during June or early July—and we strongly hope > such will not be the case for lands held in the public trust by > municipalities, land trusts, and conservation NGOs—intentionally make the > site unsuitable for grassland-nesting birds by mowing every 2 or 3 weeks, > beginning in late May and continuing through mid-July. Discouraging birds > from nesting on such sites will prevent them from being lured into > ecological traps; hopefully the frequent mowing will force them to > relocate to other, more bird-friendly location. > > Not clear they are basing this on any particular evidence. Also, I don't > understand how this would work for hay, but perhaps they mean non-farmers? > > *Targeting grassland not in cultivation**:* Landowners who aren't > farming their land might not even need to be paid to adopt a bird-friendly > mowing schedule, or they might accept a much lower payment since they > aren't out of pocket when they change how and when they mow. Does it make > sense to begin by looking into efforts made by other bird clubs and > organizations to these landowners, and then spend time on outreach to > state, not for profit, and private landowners? There are plenty of > grassland management guides to borrow from (for example MassAudubon's > <https://www.massaudubon.org/content/download/19413/274073/file/Best-Management-Practices_Grasslands.pdf> > and the NYS DEC's <https://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/86582.html>). The DEC > itself manages a lot of land on wildlife refuges - is it required to follow > its own guidelines on the grassland portions? And is it required to keep > grassland as grassland or is it allowing it to grow up into scrub, renting > it to farmers to use as cropland, or otherwise failing to maintain this > habitat? > > > > On 6/21/2021 10:52 AM, hollis.white wrote: > > Hi everyone,on early/late mowing,why not follow the Bobolink Project,pay > the farmers and whoever,to mow later,10 dollars apiece or some sum,giv > En to farmer will do wonders. > > Hollis > > Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy Tablet > > -------- Original message -------- > From: Geo Kloppel <[email protected]> <[email protected]> > Date: 6/21/21 8:54 AM (GMT-05:00) > To: [email protected] > Cc: CayugaBirds-L b <[email protected]> > <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fields being mowed. > > Hi Anne, > > I wasn’t thinking of entering the fields that had been pre-selected for > early mowing, nor searching for nests. Rather, I was wondering if in some > way those fields could be rendered unappealing just before nesting begins, > at the critical moment* when the sociable and polygamous Bobolinks are > choosing which fields to build their nests in. Maybe they would find > certain noises or predator signals or patrolling drones or something else > unacceptable, and move on to settle into other fields that were slated for > later mowing. > > *I wrote “moment” for whatever the brief period might be before they make > their choice and begin nest building. > > -Geo > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Jun 21, 2021, at 6:36 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > > > Speaking as someone who spent years locating redwing nests, I think > this is a mountain not a molehill. Locating nests in grassland is HARD on > purpose. Birds make it that way. Feeding females do t go down to their > nests. They drop and walk to the nest. One makes paths tromping through the > grass which neither farmer nor birds will benefit from. > > > > I was thinking about what long term obs and relatively few nesting areas > it took for the one farm as described. > > > > No not impossible but much harder than it seems. And leaving clumps with > nests as well as paths near them will increase predation. > > > > I am dubious as good as this sounds. > > > > Anne > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > >> On Jun 20, 2021, at 10:40 PM, Geo Kloppel <[email protected]> > <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> I’ve been musing along a different line, wondering if a preemptive > approach is possible. > >> > >> It takes time to mow the big fields that grassland nesters favor, and > the hay farmer can’t mow all of them simultaneously. The work of haying > season has to begin somewhere, and start early enough that the farmer can > get through it all. So each year some field will be selected to go first, > and another second, and the rest must wait their turns. > >> > >> Clearly some fields that are later in the queue can produce a crop of > fledglings before it’s their turn to be mowed; otherwise we wouldn’t be > having this conversation. So, suppose for the moment that the decision > about which fields to mow early could be made before nesting had even > begun. If there was then some way to discourage the birds from selecting > those particular fields to nest in, the effect would be to direct them to > the fields slated for later mowing... > >> > >> -Geo > >> -- > >> > >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: > >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > >> > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > >> > >> ARCHIVES: > >> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > >> 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > >> > >> Please submit your observations to eBird: > >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > >> > >> -- > >> > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > > > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
