Date: 7/11/25 9:08 am From: Jody Enck <jodyenck...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] A bit of good news for some local grassland nesting birds
Hello birders, As we have mentioned here before, a group of dedicated conservationists from across several units at Cornell University (including Lab of O, Vet School, College of Ag and Life Sciences, Botanic Gardens) and the Cayuga Bird Club have been working for the last 5 years to develop ideas for enhancing grassland bird conservation measures in university operations, especially as they relate to mowing of hayfields and other grass-dominated fields. This is a great group of folks who have been putting a lot of time and effort into all this.
The dilemma has always been that peak time for mowing occurs just before Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and other grassland bird species fledge their young. Most years, the mowing occurs by mid June. It is not as simple as delaying mowing because nutritional value of the hay that will go to feed livestock across campus programs is a main driver of the timing of mowing.
Anyway, mother nature gave grassland birds a gift this year, at least in the area along Hanshaw and Freese Roads. The rainy spring and early summer simply made the fields too mushy to drive in until around the beginning of July. Even then, some parts of those fields remain unmowed because of soft ground.
Some preliminary bad news was that I did 4 rounds of point count surveys (5 points each round) in those fields and recorded a very low number of Bobolinks and Eastern Meadowlarks. They were there, but in pretty low numbers compared to, say, 5 years ago when we raised the alarm about the issue with the university.
However, the delayed mowing allowed some Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark nests to fledge! I did not record any fledglings of those two species on my last survey earlier this week. However, I spent two hours out there this morning as a tractor was raking some hay that was mowed Wednesday. In both the remaining patches of unmowed hay, and in mowed sections of the fields, I observed several fledged Meadowlarks and Bobolinks flying around or perched on hay. Perhaps more importantly, I observed about a dozen most fledgling Bobolinks in an adjacent field of mostly goldenrod.
Bobolinks and Meadowlarks are obligate grassland nesters, meaning that they only build nests on the ground in fields dominated by grass species. However, after fledging, both species move to post-breeding habitat in fields dominated more by other, non-grass herbaceous plant species. It was thrilling to see fledglings of both of these species taking advantage of this post-breeding habitat this year. I had not witnessed that kind of breeding success locally in fields I've been monitoring for the last few years. So, call me a happier birder today.
Have fun and stay cool Jody
Jody W. Enck, PhD Conservation Social Scientist, and Founder of the Sister Bird Club Network 607-379-5940
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