Anne, you hit on a most important aspect of the effect of modern farming methods and equipment on birds. We see it here in the dairy industry (3000 plus cows is hardly a farm). The equipment is huge and very efficient leaving just about zero gleanings for wintering birds.
Last winter, one field near us was untended in late fall leaving a very large crop of the unintended "weed" lambs quarters. That led to flocks of 500 plus Redpolls and others feeding there for weeks. On a much smaller scale, homeowners can help by not super cleaning their gardens which hold much seed for sparrows and others. Timing mowing for late hay or simply cropping needs much more thought so that all, from farmer to birds benefit. Best, John On Sun, Jan 23, 2022 at 12:44 PM <[email protected]> wrote: > The Seven Samurai (meadowlarks) were all on the wires and down in the > uncut field on N side of Hile School rd last night and this morning. We > found their tracks as we were skiing and they seem to be going in and out > of under- grass hummock tunnels— probably finding seeds from the never cut > vegetation on that side. There is some striking individual variation in > streaky-ness and extent of yellow on sides and bellies. Age I presume ? > > So their behavior raises an interesting issue vis a vis overwintering bird > survival and mowing. We were saying last fall that mowing should be delayed > because of nesting/fledging. But late first mowings as well as second > cuttings if attempted will take all standing veg out just as fall comes. > There will be no standing crop of “weed” seeds or grass seed. And no > cover within which to forage if you are a meadowlark or other ground > forager. (Not saying that Meadowlarks should be here now!). How does this > affect e.g. white throated sparrows? A flock of mostly white- throats and > a few tree sparrows has been heavily working the edges of the fields around > seed bearing plants in the same unmown areas. > > Mowing catches grassland specialists coming and going, so to speak. > > Anne > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jan 23, 2022, at 9:18 AM, Marie P. Read <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Two were there yesterday too. > M > > Get Outlook for iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef> > ------------------------------ > *From:* [email protected] < > [email protected]> on behalf of bob mcguire < > [email protected]> > *Sent:* Sunday, January 23, 2022 8:49:25 AM > *To:* CAYUGABIRDS-L <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [cayugabirds-l] Eastern Meadowlarks > > For anyone driving up the east side of the lake today, be sure to check > the south end of lake road - downhill from the winery. I had two, possible > three, EASTERN MEADOWLARKS fly over the car. Two of them landed alongside > the road, foraging in the roadside grass. They were not shy and continued > to move uphill as I watched for a few minutes, about twenty feet away. > > Bob McGuire > -- > > 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/[email protected]/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 <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/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/[email protected]/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/ --
