Monthly Archives: January 2017

Check out the updated Bobolink Project website!

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Margo Mercer

Hi all,

We are pleased to announce that we have finished updating our website for the coming 2017 Bobolink Project season. Check out the new information at www.bobolinkproject.com. The farmer applications are live and donations are very welcome.

We will be accepting farmer applications until March 20.

IMPORTANT: We have changed some of the criteria for eligible farms and clarified a few other things so we highly recommend that you thoroughly read through the For Farmers page.

We also encourage donors to donate before April 1 when we will begin selecting farms for the program. The reason why only donations before April 1, 2017 will be applied to the 2017 season is because the number of farms and which farms we accept into the program depend wholly on how many donations we have pooled up to that deciding date when we start creating the contracts. Any donations that come in after April 1 will be saved for the following 2018 season.

We are looking forward to a new season of The Bobolink Project!

Warbler of the Week

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Margo Mercer

Hi all,

In anticipation of our warbler-themed Birders Meeting, we’ll be posting about a featured warbler species every week.

This week’s warbler is…

Black-and-white warbler (Mniotilta varia)

“In the last days of April or in early May, when the buds on deciduous trees are swelling and when tiny, light green leaflets appear on the shrubbery, in sheltered sunny spots we may find a little black and white striped bird hopping along the lower limbs in the woodlands, turning this way and that, searching over the branches from one side to the other, often head downward, closely scanning the bark, silently gleaning the insect enemies of the trees. This is the Black and White Warbler.” – Edward Howe Forbush, 1929

Breeding habitat: partially open mature or second-growth hardwood and mixed forests.

Most warblers are in constant motion, hopping from branch to branch in their search for invertebrates to eat, which makes identifying many species by their behavior alone usually quite difficult. The black-and-white warbler stands apart from its fellows since it forages by creeping along the bark and larger branches of trees, much like a nuthatch. Although the black-and-white warbler remains widespread in Massachusetts, it is beginning to show the first signs of decline. Check out our Breeding Bird Atlas 2 account for more information on this warbler in MA.

The biggest threat to black-and-white warblers is fragmentation of its forested habitat. When forest patches become more and more fragmented there is increased incidence of “edge effects” such as increased chance of predation, brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird, and disturbance. “As nocturnal migrants, Black-and-white Warblers are a frequent victim of collisions with glass, towers, and wind turbines; as insectivores, they are vulnerable to pesticide poisoning.” (American Bird Conservancy)

New Director of Bird Conservation: Jon Atwood

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Margo Mercer

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Jon Atwood as our new Director of Bird Conservation. Jon joined Mass Audubon as our Bird Conservation Fellow for grassland birds in 2014, and we were lucky to land him.

Jon received his Ph.D. from UCLA and has been a practicing ornithologist and conservation biologist for 30 years, specializing in integrating behavioral studies of rare and endangered bird species with habitat conservation planning.

While working at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences during the early 1990’s he collaborated in the analysis of the first 30 years of Manomet’s landbird banding effort, and spearheaded federal protection of the California Gnatcatcher under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. From 1998-2011 he directed the Conservation Biology Program at Antioch University, New England, teaching classes in Ornithology, Ecological Research Design, and GIS, and mentoring over 70 graduate students working on various wildlife studies. During 2011-2013 he worked as Science Director at Biodiversity Research Institute in southern Maine.

As a Bird Conservation Fellow, Jon has focused on grassland birds, one of the most-rapidly declining groups identified in our State of the Birds reports. Jon led a review of grassland management on the sanctuaries, transitioned the Bobolink Project from an academic experiment to a dedicated bird conservation program, and co-authored our booklet on Best Management Practices for Nesting Grassland Birds. In addition to that work, he has made important contributions to our upcoming State of the Birds report focused on climate change and to analysis of Coastal Waterbirds Program data.

In his new role, Jon will be responsible for setting the overall direction of our bird conservation program, continuing the current momentum on State of the Birds recommendations, leading the bird-related priorities of the Strategic Plan 2020 and the Master Plan for Conservation Science, and identifying and pursuing partnerships and funding opportunities to advance our work.

New RCPP Grant Will Help Protect Southern NE Heritage Forest

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Margo Mercer

As we celebrated the holidays with fellow Mass Audubon staff, Jeff Collins received an email announcing that a large Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) grant that our team and partners applied for had been approved!

About $6.1 million will be used to protect and manage forests in the Southern New England Heritage Forest. The area is bounded by Hartford and Springfield in the west, Providence in the east, and runs from the Long Island sound north to the Quabbin reservoir. This region contains a critically important continuous corridor of high-priority forested wildlife habitat.

Over 70% of these woodlands are privately owned, so this grant will focus on engaging

landowners and helping them maintain their forests as forests through sound management and— whenever possible—permanent protection.

Mass Audubon’s role in this grant is to assist project partners’ efforts by providing bird habitat recommendations for forest management plans, training more technical service providers (TSPs) to incorporate birds in their work, increasing TSP registration numbers, and conducting wildlife monitoring on managed sites. Our team will also teach landowners about bird-friendly forest management.

The project will begin in the spring of 2018 and run for five years.

The Bobolink Project 2017 Season Is Ramping Up

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Margo Mercer

The Bobolinks are starting to plan their trip back north and we’re busily working to welcome them home by ensuring we conserve as many acres of grassland habitat as we can.

As many of you already know, The Bobolink Project is an innovative solution to a complicated problem. We use donated dollars to give farmers the financial assistance they need to protect grassland birds on their hay fields. We were thrilled with the success of the project under its new leadership of Mass Audubon and partners in 2016, and know that we can do even better this year!

Last year we raised about $42,000 that enabled us to help farmers protect over 500 acres. Based on past data, we estimate that our Bobolinks raised 450 young on those acres. That’s 450 more Bobolinks than would likely have existed had The Bobolink Project not been in existence! We thank you for your help in that.

The more donations The Bobolink Project receives, the greater the number of Bobolinks and other grassland birds we can protect and help fledge. Only with your help can we use this innovative solution to directly and effectively conserve grassland birds.

Please make a donation before April 1, when we will start enrolling the farms in the program.