Greg-- It is depressing but not altogether surprising to hear your news. Huffman Prairie has hosted many interesting birds and plants over the years, nearly all discovered by Nature Conservancy researchers. This used to be an upland sandpiper breeding spot; fat chance now. I believe you can be sure TNC did not agree to mowing this area at this time of year. I also believe you are right to suspect the Federal agencies, especially the Air Force, as the instigators. Birdlife is being discouraged near airports. In addition, birders have reported being banished from traditional Ohio airport sites based on what are claimed to be heightened security concerns, and at least one Federal agency (APHIS, the lead agency on the cormorant culling here as well as the poisoning of crows in several nearby states) seems dedicating to trumpeting the threat to aircraft presented by free-flying birds. It's hard to find an airport where increased bureaucratic paranoia has not made things more difficult for birders, and also far more importantly for birds. After all, eliminating birds will help discourage those toters of scopes (or are they grenade launchers?) who lurk along the fences at airports, speaking in foreign tongues ("Bartramia longicauda," for example). Bill Whan Columbus Greg Spahr wrote: > 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 ______________________________________________________________________ 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]