I visited Huffman Prairie (In Greene County near Dayton and Fairborn) on 
June 18th.  Wonderful birds, including Bobolinks and Meadowlarks defending 
their nests, Common Yellowthroats all over the place, and other nice birds 
detected like a single Blue Grosbeak.  Last night (June 21) I visited the 
site and found that every square inch of the prairie has been mowed.  
Looking at the Species Accounts of Ohio Breeding Birds 
(http://www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/pdfs/pdfselect.php) it is plain to see that 
we haven't yet passed the safe dates for fledging of Bobolinks, Grasshopper 
Sparrows, Meadowlarks or Yellowthroats, all of which have been detected at 
Huffman this year.  It is reasonable to assume that nesting attempts of 
these declining birds have been destroyed by the mowing this week.  This 
prairie is managed by the United States Air Force, the National Park 
Service and the Nature Conservancy.  I have already written to the Nature 
Conservancy because I figured it was the best place to start.  I am very 
disappointed, they could not have picked a worse time to mow if they had 
tried.  Sorry for the rant folks, I just could not hold in my 
disappointment at this.  I am sure the explanation will be either national 
security or fire protection, we shall see.

Good Birding,

Greg Spahr
Fairborn, OH

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