Hi all,
I forgot to comment on Laura's excellent observation about more American
Kestrels in the Holmes County area than other locales. I bet this is right,
because much that area is still a wonderful mosaic of smaller farms,
meadows, and fields with more diverse "weeds" - similar to what much of
agricultural Ohio used to resemble in decades past. I also suspect that
she's right about the lack of pesticide use, too, and maybe that factors
into the presence of more kestrels in that area. That this area remains a
hotspot for kestrels in winter seems to be borne out by Christmas Bird Count
data. For instance, the Millersburg and Ragersville counts, both in that
general area and well-covered by observers, have high numbers of kestrels
that have remained pretty stable over the past decade. If only all of the
state was faring that well for kestrels!
Jim McCormac
Columbus, Ohio
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
[log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 7:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Am. Pipets in Holmes Co. & some thoughts on Kestrel
populations
Returning from our cottage in Coshocton Co. today, Tim & I drove some back
roads in Holmes Co. & were lucky enough to find a flock of 10-20 American
Pipits feeding on some freshly spread manure. They were on CR 58 just west
of
the intersection with T122 & T128. (Delorme 60A4--right above the"N" in
Mechanic Township). Also saw a Rough-legged Hawk on T157, just outside of
Charm
(DeLorme 51D4).
While driving these roads we saw quite a few kestrels, more than we have
seen in similar habitat in other rural areas of Coshocton, Stark, Summit &
Portage counties. (The counties we drive most often). Remembering the
discussions
we have seen on this list-serve regarding possible kestrel population
declines, we wondered what might be different in Holmes Co. Could the use
of
Round-up Ready crops that has become so popular in recent years be a
factor? It
is quite likely that these Round-up treated seeds are not used as heavly on
Amish farms. These treated seeds result in less weeds, which should mean
less
insects & therefore less food for kestrels. Or could the insects that are
present have toxins in them from the treated seeds? Would any of this
hypotheses result in kestrels either dying or moving to other areas, such
as Holmes
Co.? Has anyone else noticed more kestrels in some counties that have less
soybean/corn row crop production where Round-up Ready seed is more
prevelant?
Laura Dornan
Louisville, Stark Co.
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at
www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
|
