Re: [cayugabirds-l] cayugabirds-l digest: June 21, 2021
Of course social attraction is a wonderful idea that has a LOONG track record of success. Absolutely. Before thinking about the "how", I'd really like to ask folks more about "when, where and who" with regard to an odd but very timely and relevant question that's connected to zoning. I'm on the newly formed Zoning Commission in the Town of Caroline where the town has determined to adopt zoning ordinances for the first time. I've read with great interest all the discussions about farmland and nesting survey ideas. In preparation for the next zoning meeting, I'd be delighted to open a dialog with you all about ways to approach farm owners that might incentivize whatever land use practises that would help grassland bird populations in this geographic region. Like someone said in this thread, how to "sweeten" the deal for farmers. I'd really prefer that my input into this Commission be helpful to bird populations! If anyone is willing to have a chat with me, I'd be very appreciative. Next zoning meeting is tonight, but there's still plenty of time to build in better ideas to this nascent and evolving zoning law in our local geographic region. There's still a great deal of open grassland in the Town of Caroline that remains in private hands (other than Cornell's). Please reach out if you'd like to chat. Many thanks! Evie Weinstein 607-592- On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 11:13 AM Stephen W. Kress wrote: > 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 < > cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> 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
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
