Cornell has a cooperative extension program with an agricultural section, which provides education on “good” agricultural practices to local farmers. I remember reading somewhere that fields are mowed in June to cut off seed heads from weeds. I contacted cooperative extension asking if this is the reason and what the alternatives, if any, are (such as obviously postponing the mowing, but who knows, anything else?).
Patrizia On Jun 15, 2021, at 5:25 PM, darlingtonbets <darlingtonb...@gmail.com<mailto:darlingtonb...@gmail.com>> wrote: 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! Betsy Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: Melissa Groo <melg...@gmail.com<mailto:melg...@gmail.com>> Date: 6/15/21 4:53 PM (GMT-05:00) To: Nancy Cusumano <nancycusuman...@gmail.com<mailto:nancycusuman...@gmail.com>> Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu>>, "Kenneth V. Rosenberg" <k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu>>, Linda Orkin <wingmagi...@gmail.com<mailto:wingmagi...@gmail.com>> 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. Melissa On Tue, Jun 15, 2021 at 2:28 PM Nancy Cusumano <nancycusuman...@gmail.com<mailto:nancycusuman...@gmail.com>> 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... Nancy On Tue, Jun 15, 2021 at 4:07 PM Kenneth V. Rosenberg <k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu>> 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<mailto:k...@cornell.edu> Wk: 607-254-2412 Cell: 607-342-4594 From: bounce-125714085-3493...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-125714085-3493...@list.cornell.edu> <bounce-125714085-3493...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-125714085-3493...@list.cornell.edu>> on behalf of Linda Orkin <wingmagi...@gmail.com<mailto:wingmagi...@gmail.com>> Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 3:02 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu<mailto: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. 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