That is a critical piece that has made it hard for me, on Hile School rd, to help the farmers meet me more than half way. I end up saying after the 4th, but the later the better.
After years of redwing work in and around the pond units in the 1990s, our usual pattern was a sharp decline in unfledged nests to low numbers by around the 4th. Year to year variation in first fledging week was strong. Could be in 1st or second wk of June. I could go back and calculate a mean but it would be wrong in many years. My impression with the meadowlark and redwing activity here this year is that fledging is really going strong in last 4-5 days. Lots of parental yelling at my dog and I when we are in the road and a new call by the meadowlark pair. So maybe “wait til the 4th” would do it this year. Warning though. There will be renests at that time and the later nestlings. Just fewer than now. And bobolinks are probably not on the same schedule quite and a miss is as good as a… I have combed next door fields after a mowing with pictures and rescues in mind and nests are harder to find than you would think. Scavengers work fast and nests are pinned under swathes of grass. But pics would certainly be useful. So I will see if I can generate any 90s estimates for timing, but I think the 4th is a pretty good date as compromise. Anne Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 15, 2021, at 6:07 PM, Sandy Podulka <s...@cornell.edu> wrote: > > Ken and all, > > Thank you so much for this clear, concise summary of this issue. I have some > friends I am trying to convince to not mow too soon, so will use your words > there, too. > > Can anyone tell me what is a "safe" date for mowing? Until when should I ask > them to delay? > > Thanks, > Sandy Podulka > > At 04:07 PM 6/15/2021, 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 >> <bounce-125714085-3493...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Linda Orkin >> <wingmagi...@gmail.com> >> Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 3:02 PM >> To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> >> 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 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/ --
