Preserving Songbird Habitat
In what appears to be a press release published in today's Register-Star, the Columbia County Department of Public Works announced its intention not to mow the grassy fields that were once the county landfill in North Bay until autumn. The press release explains: "The change is designed to protect important grassland bird habitat. Many songbirds need grassy fields to survive. Birds such as bobolinks, savannah sparrows, and eastern meadowlarks nest, breed and find food in fields with tall grass. Mowing the fields during summer, when birds nest and breed on the ground, inhibits their chances of reproducing successfully. Songbird populations have declined dramatically in recent decades, reflecting among other things the greatly diminished acreage of open field in the landscape and the frequent harvesting of hay on many that remain."
This is a small triumph which was years in the making.
ReplyDeleteThis may even be the first implementation of the first stage of the Columbia Land Conservancy's "Concept Master Plan" for the North Bay, which favors native grasses and grassland birds at the North 2nd Street landfill.
After a week of sorry stories from North Bay, this is a positive sign of good things to come.