Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fields being mowed.
Good! And let's try to get some publicity into the Ithaca Journal. BetsySent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Original message From: Nancy Cusumano Date: 6/15/21 4:28 PM (GMT-05:00) To: "Kenneth V. Rosenberg" Cc: Linda Orkin , CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fields being mowed. Ken, May I use your words in my letters? I think I will go straight to the top with this issue. I will paraphrase...NancyOn Tue, Jun 15, 2021 at 4:07 PM Kenneth V. Rosenberg wrote: Linda, thanks for bringing this mowing to everyone’s attention. In a nutshell, what is happening today in those fields, repeated over the entire U.S., is the primary cause of continued steep declines in Bobolink and other grassland bird populations. Last year, because of the delays in mowing due to Covid, the fields along Freeze and Hanshaw Roads were full of nesting birds, including many nesting Bobolinks that were actively feeding young in the nests at the end of June. In the first week of July, Cornell decided to mow all the fields. Jody Enck and I wrote letters and met with several folks at Cornell in the various departments in charge of managing those fields (Veterinary College, University Farm Services) – although they listened politely to our concerns for the birds, they went ahead and mowed that week as dozens of female bobolinks and other birds hovered helplessly over the tractors with bills filled food for their almost-fledged young. The same just happened over the past couple of days this year, only at an earlier stage in the nesting cycle – most birds probably have (had) recently hatched young in the nest. While mowing is occurring across the entire region as part of “normal” agricultural practices (with continued devastating consequences for field-nesting birds), the question is whether Cornell University needs to be contributing to this demise, while ostensibly supporting biodiversity conservation through other unrelated programs. Jody and I presented an alternative vision, where the considerable acres of fields owned by the university across Tompkins County could serve as a model for conserving populations of grassland birds, pollinators, and other biodiversity, but the people in charge of this management were not very interested in these options. And there we have it, a microcosm of the continental demise of grassland birds playing out in our own backyard, illustrating the extreme challenges of modern Ag practices that are totally incompatible with healthy bird populations. I urge CayugaBirders to make as much noise as possible, and maybe someone will listen. KEN Ken Rosenberg (he/him/his) Applied Conservation Scientist Cornell Lab of Ornithology American Bird Conservancy Fellow, Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future k...@cornell.edu Wk: 607-254-2412 Cell: 607-342-4594 From: bounce-125714085-3493...@list.cornell.edu on behalf of Linda Orkin Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 3:02 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Fields being mowed. After a couple year hiatus in which the Freese Road fields across from the gardens have been mowed late in the season allowing at least Bobolinks to be done with their nesting and for grassland birds to be lured into a false feeling of security so they have returned and I’ve counted three singing meadowlarks for the first time in years, Cornell has returned to early mowing there as of today. And so the mayhem ensues. How many more multitudes of birds will die before we believe our own eyes and ears. Mow the grass while it’s still nutritious but are we paying attention to who is being fed. Grass taken from the land to pass through animals and in that inefficient process turning to food for humans. Linda Orkin Ithaca NY -- 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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 Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fields being mowed.
Can someone take on writing a letter to the Ithaca Journal - if possible, with some photos? How about a petition, too?It's one thing if it's farmers who have to support themselves, but CORNELL?! I can just imagine all their rationalizations!BetsySent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Original message From: Melissa Groo Date: 6/15/21 4:53 PM (GMT-05:00) To: Nancy Cusumano Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L , "Kenneth V. Rosenberg" , Linda Orkin Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fields being mowed. Also, if anyone would get photos of the distressed parents flying/hovering in the same frame as the mowers, those photos would go a long way too. (I would volunteer but I’m out of town right now.)The photos could be used in an article or editorial of some kind, that needs to be written.MelissaOn Tue, Jun 15, 2021 at 2:28 PM Nancy Cusumano wrote:Ken, May I use your words in my letters? I think I will go straight to the top with this issue. I will paraphrase...NancyOn Tue, Jun 15, 2021 at 4:07 PM Kenneth V. Rosenberg wrote: Linda, thanks for bringing this mowing to everyone’s attention. In a nutshell, what is happening today in those fields, repeated over the entire U.S., is the primary cause of continued steep declines in Bobolink and other grassland bird populations. Last year, because of the delays in mowing due to Covid, the fields along Freeze and Hanshaw Roads were full of nesting birds, including many nesting Bobolinks that were actively feeding young in the nests at the end of June. In the first week of July, Cornell decided to mow all the fields. Jody Enck and I wrote letters and met with several folks at Cornell in the various departments in charge of managing those fields (Veterinary College, University Farm Services) – although they listened politely to our concerns for the birds, they went ahead and mowed that week as dozens of female bobolinks and other birds hovered helplessly over the tractors with bills filled food for their almost-fledged young. The same just happened over the past couple of days this year, only at an earlier stage in the nesting cycle – most birds probably have (had) recently hatched young in the nest. While mowing is occurring across the entire region as part of “normal” agricultural practices (with continued devastating consequences for field-nesting birds), the question is whether Cornell University needs to be contributing to this demise, while ostensibly supporting biodiversity conservation through other unrelated programs. Jody and I presented an alternative vision, where the considerable acres of fields owned by the university across Tompkins County could serve as a model for conserving populations of grassland birds, pollinators, and other biodiversity, but the people in charge of this management were not very interested in these options. And there we have it, a microcosm of the continental demise of grassland birds playing out in our own backyard, illustrating the extreme challenges of modern Ag practices that are totally incompatible with healthy bird populations. I urge CayugaBirders to make as much noise as possible, and maybe someone will listen. KEN Ken Rosenberg (he/him/his) Applied Conservation Scientist Cornell Lab of Ornithology American Bird Conservancy Fellow, Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future k...@cornell.edu Wk: 607-254-2412 Cell: 607-342-4594 From: bounce-125714085-3493...@list.cornell.edu on behalf of Linda Orkin Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 3:02 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Fields being mowed. After a couple year hiatus in which the Freese Road fields across from the gardens have been mowed late in the season allowing at least Bobolinks to be done with their nesting and for grassland birds to be lured into a false feeling of security so they have returned and I’ve counted three singing meadowlarks for the first time in years, Cornell has returned to early mowing there as of today. And so the mayhem ensues. How many more multitudes of birds will die before we believe our own eyes and ears. Mow the grass while it’s still nutritious but are we paying attention to who is being fed. Grass taken from the land to pass through animals and in that inefficient process turning to food for humans. Linda Orkin Ithaca NY -- 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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 Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives:
[cayugabirds-l] Fwd: Steve
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Original message From: Jerry Skinner Date: 3/9/21 11:31 AM (GMT-05:00) To: darlingtonb...@gmail.com Subject: Steve Hi Betsy, Might you post this to the list? I don’t have access.Jerry Let me add another aspect of Steve’s legacy. I am one of the hundreds of ‘Puffineers’ who served as researchers, interns, and volunteers on Project Puffin. So many conservation careers have been launched and furthered over the past 45 years!Thank you, Steve, for lifetime memories and experiences!Check out the book Project Puffin by Steve and Derrick Jackson to learn details of the project’s rocky beginning. -- 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Angry birds (Am robins!)
A number of years ago, I asked poisonous plant expert, John Kingsbury, about pokeweed. He's a retired professor of botany from Cornell and was lecturer in phytotoxicology at Cornell's Vet. College. And author of "Deadly Harvest," an excellent book on poisonous plants. He told me that a group of medical researchers who were studying pokeweed, and handling the plant, all developed leukemia-like symptoms. (I don't know what happened after that. Did they recover, once they stopped handling it?) He recommended wearing gloves, if handling the plant. I think he said that the berries were the least toxic part of the plant. Just because a plant is toxic to humans, of course, doesn't mean it should be destroyed, just that people should be cautious in using, handling or eating it. And many plants that are toxic to humans are fine for birds and other animals. Pokeweed is a beautiful, interesting plant. Just don't eat it or handle it without gloves.BetsySent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Original message From: Maryfaith Miller Date: 10/26/19 12:08 PM (GMT-05:00) To: anneb.cl...@gmail.com Cc: Regi Teasley , bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com, CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Angry birds (Am robins!) I have used pokeweed berries in my forest kindergarten class to dye wool an intensely beautiful shade of purple. 5-6-7 year olds, harvested, crushed, boiled over a campfire and stirred the pot full of wool roving and pokeweed berries. My students love knowing which plants are deadly poisonous. I have taught them a lot about mushrooms, and all of them can identify a destroying angel, jack o'lanterns, etc. Knowledge is power, and children love having this knowledge. They know where all the pokeweed plants are at Lime Hollow and love to inform people about them. But this is a bird list, and the question is about bird behavior...I'd love to hear about the OP's question re American Robin aggression if anyone knows more about that.Maryfaith Decker MillerOn Sat, Oct 26, 2019 at 11:38 AM wrote:And I am living proof that eating young pokeweed is not deadly. We didn’t use 3 waters either, although drained it. But I am NOT suggesting everyone try it. Young spinach causes less panic. Or try lambs quarters. Anne Sent from my iPhoneOn Oct 26, 2019, at 9:56 AM, Regi Teasley wrote:I understand Pokeweed is poisonous to humans. Your thoughts on keeping these plants?RegiWhat good is a house if you don’t have a tolerable planet to put it in? Henry David ThoreauOn Oct 26, 2019, at 9:01 AM, anneb.cl...@gmail.com wrote:This morning I have a large number of robins all age/sexes foraging on my productive pokeweed berries and scratching leaves AND chasing each other hard and long. More athletic long chases than I am used to associating with robins. They are not just chasing around the berries although I watched some head lowered face offs ( before a chase) on the fence near pokeweed. Anne Sent from my iPhone--Cayugabirds-L List Info:http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOMEhttp://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULEShttp://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htmARCHIVES:1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.htmlPlease submit your observations to eBird:http://ebird.org/content/ebird/-- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
