Week of October 7, 2014 - Issue No. 20
IN THE BAG tidbits from Fred
You saw what? Oh, a Saw-whet!
On first appearance Rushton Farm looks like your traditional example of small scale intensive sustainable agriculture. Crops sit nestled within the landscape surrounded by meadow and trees. The gardens and fields reflect the hard work of farmers trying to grow a wide assortment of fruit and vegetables in a way that is beneficial to the surrounding environment.
Occasionally the wildlife that inhabits the farm may become briefly visible with a rabbit darting through the fields or a groundhog scuffling into the hedgerow. What is not so apparent is the wide, diverse population of migratory birds that visit Rushton Farm throughout the year.
One of the exciting programs of Willistown Conservation Trust is the migratory bird banding that is taking place at Rushton Farm. Under the direction of Lisa Kiziuk in partnership with master bird bander Doris McGovern, the fields of Rushton Farm and Rushton Preserve have become an exciting center for studying the variety of birds that fly through in the spring and fall.
This program has been very successful with volunteers and visitors regularly attending the banding days to learn more about our feathered friends who frequent our fields. Moreover, this program is significant to the farm in that it gives us a better understanding of how our agricultural practices impact the bird population. To date there has been clear evidence that the visiting bird populations benefit from the insects, seeds and grasses within the fields of the farm.
As the winter season approaches, the banding station has expanded its efforts to study how Northern Saw-whet owls migrate through this region. Our station helps fill a research gap between the Kittatinny Ridge and Cape May, both of which have long-standing migratory bird research stations.
Our proficient banders will begin banding this upcoming week and will continue into late November. The migratory birds have been flying through in large numbers this fall and now it is time to look to the night sky in hopes that our little Saw-whet friends will be flying through as well.
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