Urgent Action Needed

The professionals who have studied Sheep Pasture over the last several years have noted its variety of habitats. Hay fields, shrubland, early successional forest, red maple swamp, and late successional forest are all features of our 154 acres. The NRT is also committed to managing its property for habitat diversity rather than let it revert completely to woodland. Abandoned farmland makes up most of the conservation land in Easton so we have an opportunity to become a safe haven for many at risk birds that need grassland or shrubland habitats.

At Sheep Pasture five species fall into the Audubon's urgent action category. These are the American Kestrel, Field Sparrow, Northern Bobwhite, White-throated Sparrow, and the Black-crowned Night Heron. Remember that the folks at Sheep Pasture have not done a good job of maintaining a birding life list. Checking the 213 birds on the overall Easton list there are another 22 birds in the urgent action category. About half of these birds have likely used or are using Sheep Pasture. Let's focus on the five named above.

I have never seen a Black-crowned Night Heron. It apparently breeds in colonies along the coast and then disperses into other watery habitats about mid-July. Sheep Pastures marshy land along the Queset is probably marginally attractive to this bird. Breeding colonies have declined in size by as much as 45%. Maintaining appropriate habitat will help this bird, but it is unlikely to live here in large numbers.

 The American Kestrel is our smallest falcon. It is a beautiful bird that feeds on insects, small mammals and the occasional small bird. It is also one of the fastest declining birds in Massachusetts. There are many causes for this decline. Perhaps the most important is loss of grassland habitat which the kestrel needs for hunting. Another cause is the increase of Cooper's Hawks in Massachusetts. There is evidence that the hawks prey on the smaller kestrels, who as top predators in their environment, are not adapted to protect themselves. Kestrels hunt from high perches and need a long flight path to catch their prey. Sheep Pasture, Wheaton Farm, and Borderland all have ideal American Kestrel habitat. Unlike most raptors, the American Kestrel nests in tree cavities and readily uses nest boxes. At Sheep Pasture we are researching nest boxes to improve the property for kestrels.

The White-throated Sparrow is in decline as a breeding bird in Massachusetts, but is increasing as a winter visitor to "balmy" Massachusetts. This little bird has a specialized habitat need for nesting. It strongly prefers early successional forest gaps-spaces created by fire or tree fall. Our forest management plan calls for the creation of these kinds of gaps and the recent hurricane also made a contribution. This sparrow will come to feeders where it seems to prefer the seed dropped on the ground by other birds. We need to restore winter feeding stations at Sheep Pasture. Using the correct foods in the correct areas will help many birds.

The Field Sparrow is still fairly common in Massachusetts, but it is losing ground as the shrub land it favors reverts to woodland. Unlike the White-throated Sparrow, this bird is not a common visitor to feeders. The area along the Queset is favorable to this species, but some have called for turning this back into pasture to improve the view!

Of the five species in need, the Northern Bobwhite is probably declining the fastest. The bobwhite is at the northern edge of its range in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, it is also a popular game bird. Once upon a time it was abundant throughout the state, but over hunting in the 19th century and a series of bad winters in the 1890s pushed it back into southeastern Massachusetts. Attempts to re-introduce the species have failed partly due to the use of southern birds not adapted to our winters and partly due to poorly thought out restrictions by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Once again Sheep Pasture is perfect territory for this bird. The last bobwhite I've seen practically ran across my feet at the Clock Farm about five years ago. Unfortunately, since we don't allow hunting on Sheep Pasture we can't legally release birds there. An exception is the raising, release, and recapture of a small number of birds for the "training of dogs." This means, of course, the training of bird dogs, but the brilliant bureaucrats who wrote the regulations didn't say that so a few years ago we raised some quail in order to train Maggie to ignore them completely. "No, no Maggie leave them alone!" In truth, Maggie only cares about chasing deer and other dogs so the training went well. Eventually, the birds escaped and some survived until at least January of the following year. These birds came as day old chicks from Kansas, a cold weather state, so there is some chance that repeated releases at Sheep Pasture could have re-established a population here. It may be worth a try again-we're looking into it. At least this is a time when global warming may actually help the cause!