Couple on quest to protect bobolink
It’s unfortunate the bobolink can’t read. Otherwise, it would see the writing on the wall and make the necessary migration adjustment.
As it is, within the next decade, with the extension of the James Snow Parkway and other designated development, the songbird’s nesting space in the tall grasses of the expansive farmlands between Milton and Oakville could be wiped out.
The area of particular concern is a stretch of Britannia Road from Regional Road 25 to Fourth Line, and Britannia from Fourth Line to the end of Lower Base Line and back up Fifth Line.
“Their status was changed to threatened in 2010 because their population has declined and one of the major reasons is the loss of habitat,” says Jennifer Brink, who along with husband David has been watching the bobolink for several springs as the bird descends upon farmland surrounding the couple’s rural Fourth Line home.
More than one-quarter of the bobolink’s breeding grounds are in Canada but its numbers have dramatically declined over the past 40 years, rendering it threatened under the Ministry of Natural Resources Endangered Species Act (ESA). Dependent on grasslands for breeding, its habitat is being destroyed by land clearing and hay mowing (which inadvertently destroys the nests), according to the ministry’s bobolink fact sheet.
Visible on fenceposts and seen swooping low across the tall grasses along Lower Base Line, the bobolink has one of the longest songbird migrations, covering about 20,000 km per round trip. The male looks like it’s tuxedo-clad, with black underneath and a white back, and a distinct bubbly song.
“We have learned that the fields where we observe the bobolinks are slated for future development and the James Snow Parkway extension will have a direct impact on their nesting grounds. We have been emailing everyone under the sun,” says Jennifer........
Read the complete article at http://www.insidehalton.com/community/milton/article/1051344
Read more about Jenn and Dave's fight to save the Bobolink at their blog
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