Bird update

We don't hay the whole field, so bush hogging is a normal chore.  We knock things down to prevent weeds from going to seed.

I spent most of yesterday bush hogging areas that we skipped when haying.  We skipped haying an area in the middle of the front field, where there was a nesting pair of bobolinks.   We skipped large areas in the back, where the hay quality was poor, and there were other bobolink pairs.  We skipped a big, wet swale where the baler would have sunk.

I expected all the bobolink young to have fledged by now, and was surprised to find an adult pair still down in the grass in the area we had left in the middle of the front field. I think the young were gone, as normally they fledge by now, and I've seen young flying around.  But this pair were still there.   They flew up when I came through with the bush hog.

Most of the day, I was in the far back of the field, methodically going up and down, knocking down the weediest areas.   We have not hayed back there but have hopes that the area may become suitable with enough mowing. 

Much of the afternoon and into the evening, a male harrier hawk (marsh hawk) was hunting in the area around me, which kept things interesting.   I got back to the house and looked up their nesting habits.  They nest on the ground.   I got a bit worried about him.  I didn't see a female, or any behavior that looked like anything but hunting, so I am hoping that if he had young, they would have fledged by now.

It is a tough balance, bush hogging areas early enough to keep the weeds down, and bush hogging late enough to allow some field nesting birds to fledge.  We can't avoid taking out some nests when we hay.   Hay needs to come in relatively early, or the protein content drops.

A field that has to be maintained by humans is a pretty unstable habitat.  But, it may be the best these birds can find.


This morning, when I went out to feed and water the few ancient sheep here, I found that the barn swallows had fledged.   One youngster was sitting on the big metal tube gate that leads to the sheep pen.  I need to go through this gate at least twice in the morning, so the youngster's location was problematic.  He or she was doing his best "I'm invisible and you can't see me" pose.

I came up to the youngster and scooped it up in my hands.  It responded with an alarm call.  I tried to put it on top of the stacked hay bales, figuring the parents would find it and feed it there.  As soon as I released the youngster, it flew toward the light, out a crack where I'd left the barn door open a little.   Pretty impressive flying for something that young and small. 

I'd like to think that all the youngsters this year do so well.