RE: [cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Falls light show?
Hi Astrid and all: Indeed, it is a proud moment to celebrate the 100th anniversary of NY Parks, but it is impossible to predict how this event would affect the Taughannock Peregrines, which are themselves a great cause for celebration given their recent return to the Taughannock gorge and their symbolism for how people can restore wildlife. Although some Peregrines famously nest in well-lit noisy urban canyons and under major bridges, these are birds that are habituated to these locations- that is they selected their nesting sites and experience the light and noise of urban life daily. In contrast, Taughannock Peregrines selected a nesting site in a dark, quiet gorge. They are presently incubating eggs or brooding newly hatched chicks which are vulnerable to weather and predators if the parents are not closely attending. Why take a chance on abandonment? In my opinion, it would be safer for the Peregrines to do a night celebration in the fall, after the chicks fledge. If that is not possible at this late date, some of the suggestions to minimize disturbance by Geo Kloppel (below) would be helpful, especially the idea of illuminating the falls from below and keeping the walls of the gorge dark. My best, Stephen Kress Former VP for Bird Conservation National Audubon Society From: Astrid Jirka Sent: Monday, April 15, 2024 10:24 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Cc: Geo Kloppel ; Jennifer Tavares ; Teeter, Josh (PARKS) ; Bonn, Fred (PARKS) ; Stephen W. Kress Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Falls light show? Hi everyone, I appreciate the care and attention being given to the peregrines and the ravens in light of the lightshow being planned this weekend, as I've seen expressed through the Cayuga Bird Listserve. I also appreciate NYS Parks for all they do to promote recreation and conservation of our natural resources. And I appreciate the Chamber and Visit Ithaca for all they do to promote tourism in our area which is so crucial to our local economy. It is understandable to me that there is an interest in a celebration and that Tgnk Falls should be (literally) highlighted due to its beauty and its attraction to locals and visitors alike. Could one of the birders please explain exactly what they think the repercussions would be to the bird nests that are of concern? Are the females likely to abandon their nests, eggs or chicks, and never return? It is nice to see a community caring so much for our natural resources in so many ways. Let's do our best to make it work for the birds and the humans and all involved! Take care, Astrid Jirka Director of Tourism Initiatives Discover Cayuga Lake -- Forwarded message - From: mailto:t...@ottcmail.com>> Date: Sun, Apr 14, 2024 at 4:25 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Falls light show? To: Geo Kloppel mailto:geoklop...@gmail.com>>, CAYUGABIRDS-L mailto:cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu>> Sounds like there is a lot of momentum behind this and it might be easier to deflect than to stop unless the weather is like today. Celebrating the 100th probably is a huge deal for the agency, which certainly have manages a lot of great habitat for birds. And they people behind this particular event have put time, money, and effort into planning and executing it and probably will be reluctant to abandon it. Is there a way this could be done and disturbance minimized? What if they lit up the falls from right below so the gorge itself wasn't illuminated, and instead of hiking up the gorge they centered the celebration on the overlook rather than hiking the gorge hike? Maybe there's a local bird-loving food truck or caterer who would be willing to offer food at a discount to the parks for the three nights up at the visitor center by the overlook? Is there someone on the list with contacts at the Regional State Park office or at the Chamber who could sound them out on whether they are open to alternatives? Does the bird club have any programming it runs in partnership with any of the local state parks? We could try to shut this down but there's a good chance that would fail and, whether or not it did, trying to shut it down entirely will piss off a lot people which might not be good for birds (or even birders) in the long run. Note the Chamber of Commerce seems to be running the hikes so anyone on the list who is a member might want to gently explain the issue to Jennifer Tavares, who seems like a decent person. Not sure if Fred Bonn is still the Regional Director of State Parks but he has been flexible in the past when approached given actual evidence and alternatives - but whoever approaches him should be prepared with published evidence or personal reports by someone (maybe Tim G) who is an acknowledged expert on peregrines and can show that the light show is going to disturb the peregrines. Keep in mind that these folks know peregrines nest on urban bridges and buil
Re:[cayugabirds-l] cayugabirds-l digest: June 21, 2021
I’m not sure if this idea of encouraging Bobolink to nest in the last field of a farmers mowing sequence would allow Bobolink to raise a brood before mowing, but if it did, Then the use of social attraction (decoys and audio recording) could offer promise of encouraging Bobolink to nest in safer fields. There is already evidence that Bobolink ‘colonies’ will form in response to social attraction. Steve Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 21, 2021, at 12:00 AM, Upstate NY Birding digest > wrote: > > CAYUGABIRDS-L Digest for Monday, June 21, 2021. > > 1. Taughannock Peregrines > 2. Re: Fields being mowed. > 3. Re: Fields being mowed. > 4. Re: Fields being mowed. > 5. Re: Fields being mowed. > > -- > > Subject: Taughannock Peregrines > From: Suan Hsi Yong > Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2021 17:41:22 -0400 > X-Message-Number: 1 > > Two Thursdays ago (June 10) I happened to be up in T'burg, so stopped by to > check out the Taughannock Peregrines. I found three nestlings in their > eyrie playing with their food and flapping their wings as if ready to > fledge. Two days later, on Saturday June 12, I ran across Mark Chao and > Miyoku in T'burg, and together we went looking only to find the ledge > empty. After some waiting we saw one then several peregrines soaring around > the gorge, including the fledglings. Two of them eventually perched on a > snag on the same side of the gorge as we were, and through a window in the > foliage we were afforded some fantastic naked-eye views as they sat and > preened. Below are two videos I took, first of the nestlings on Thursday, > then of a fledgling on Saturday: > > https://youtu.be/YvQaS-PHFbo > https://youtu.be/8RAOCeBO49I > > Suan > > -- > > Subject: Re: Fields being mowed. > From: Suan Hsi Yong > Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2021 18:04:59 -0400 > X-Message-Number: 2 > > Thanks, Dave. > > As Cayuga Bird Club I've been wondering what, if anything, we could do > about the situation. One dimension would be outreach and education and > increasing general awareness, for which CAC chair Jody has stepped up to > solicit volunteers, thanks! But I'd also toyed with a pipedream idea of > whether the club could establish a corps of volunteer surveyors who, upon > request by any interested farmer, would go to a field and try to map out > nest sites and mark off sub-sections of the field that the farmer may be > willing to leave alone for the sake of the birds. > > I've never tried finding nest sites of field birds before; I suspect it can > be hard. I'd be interested to hear of any work or techniques that can be > workable to "an average volunteer". Perhaps Reuben has some hints or > suggestions. I know that Reuben is a very acute observer of birds, and > would place his skills at above average; ideally, we would like to > establish some methodology that can be effectively applied by one of > "average" observational skills. > > Just spitballing, I imagine a workable technique would involve first > installing flags to establish a grid over the field, then having at least > two observers situated on orthogonal axes communicating with walkie-talkies > to triangulate the grid location of an observed bird flying into or out of > a likely nest. Flag installation should probably happen a day or two in > advance, and could conceivably be done by the farmer ahead of time. Flag > installation may also flush birds from potential nest sites, and notes on > such observations should be taken as well. The flags will need to be marked > such that they can be read from both axes, and be easy to interpolate. > Using letters and numbers is the obvious choice, but the markings would > have to be on stiff cards facing both axes. Another option is to use color > coded flags, but interpolation may be tricky, as one needs to be able to > quickly locate the grid "between the green and blue flags", say. Something > involving two digits of rainbow colors could be workable, but it gets > complicated fast with two axes to label. > > If anyone is interested in volunteering for such a survey, please email me. > I don't know if this idea will go anywhere, but having a sense of potential > interest could be a starting point. Also, if any farmers are willing to let > us test out techniques, email me as well. I suspect we won't be able to do > anything this season, but if the stars align (enough volunteers sign up and > a farmer offers a field to test) we could potentially try doing something > within the next week or two of peak nesting. More likely is to think about > possibly doing something next season, perhaps on one of Cornell's > agricultural fields that started this thread? > > Curious to hear people's thoughts. > > Suan > > -- > > Subject: Re: Fields being mowed. > From: Nancy Cusumano > Date: Sun, 20
