Re: [nysbirds-l] Status of Henslow's Sparrow in NYS

[Arie Gilbert]

I led a trip to Sharon Springs in 2010 for the Queens County Bird Club Inc., and we were unsuccessful in finding Henslow's [ though I had seen the bird there in 2007.]  I spoke with some of the home-owners to satisfy their curiosity about the group present in their otherwise quiet bucolic area, and learned that the now former nesting field was abandoned by the owners and awaiting sale. Recently when I saw this bird in it's new location, a stones throw from the former over the county line in Ames, I also spoke with the adjacent home-owners. They informed me that the current nesting filed is in foreclosure, having been purchased by an investment group who could not sell 3 acre parcels for home development with the drop in the economy, and is now owned by the bank.  {Or so he believes} It would be great if the Nature Conservancy or some other like minded organization could step in and purchase these fields, and manage them for these declining species IMHO.  The field to the north was being worked for hay[?]  If NC bought the land and then leased it to the farmers to manage for grassland species as is done in western NJ it might work out for everyone concerned. But how to contact them about this...? BTW, Where was the second Henslow's seen? Arie Gilbert No. Babylon, NY President: Queens County Bird Club Inc. http://www.qcbirdclub.org On 7/15/2011 12:37 PM, Angus Wilson wrote: Bulletin board postings are naturally slanted to positive news and don't do such a good job recording disappearances, either of particular individuals (is the Hooded Crow still being seen?) or of populations. The recent discovery of two Henslow's Sparrows in a field near Ames (Montgomery Co.) got me thinking: are these are the only sightings for New York State this season? Looking at eBird (a better resource for this type of question) says no, but only just. Evidently, small numbers (the entries are for 1 bird each) are still present in Fort Drum and the nearby Perch River WMA (Jefferson Co.) and a little to the north in St. Lawrence County. But according to eBird, that's it. I suspect official surveys will have come up with a few more at these sites but still. Have other traditional breeding sites in western and central NYS been checked and found negative? Is total extirpation as a breeding species imminent? At what point should Henslow's Sparrow be added to the NYSARC review list? Heady questions. It would give me peace of mind to know if other breeding sites still exist. Precise locations are not necessary, just enough to know whether or not the breeding population in now confined to a relatively small area in the St. Lawrence Transition. Unfortunately I don't have the The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State (McGowan and Corwin 2008) at hand but I am sure this indispensable resource for state birds has much to say on this troubling topic. In 1999, the DEC reclassified the sparrow as Threatened (from Species of Special Concern) but my sense is that the decline has continued unchecked. -- Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- NYSbirds-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! -- -- NYSbirds-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! --