The Tablelands At Uihlein Farm: Grassland Habitat Enhancement and Future Recommendations 2021
Adirondack Watershed Institute
Michale Glennon, Hyla Howe, Stephanie Tyski, & Raymond Curran
In 2020, the Henry Uihlein II and Mildred A. Uihlein Foundation Trust (Uihlein Foundation) acquired a parcel of land totaling approximately 428 acres, previously donated to Cornell University and used for potato production and research until its transfer back to the Uihlein Foundation. Summer of 2021 marked the 3rd year of collaboration between the Uihlein Foundation and the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute to examine how bobolinks and other bird species respond to management practices in hay fields on Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farm. These efforts are focused primarily on grassland specialist bird species including the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) and savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis). These species depend on grassland habitat for successful breeding and are often found in hay meadows and pastures in the Northeast US in part due to the dearth of natural grassland habitat. As a group, grassland birds are one of the most imperiled on the continent, primarily as a result of long-term habitat loss and fragmentation combined with intensifying agricultural production on remaining farmlands.
No longer under cultivation, the former potato fields at Uihlein Farm provide an opportunity for future grassland bird conservation as well as a variety of education and interpretation activities. Uihlein Farm is in the process of a strategic planning effort for this parcel, which is likely to include a component of habitat management and enhancement of the site for grassland birds. We have the fortunate opportunity to build on our initial work at Heaven Hill and to expand our partnership with the Uihlein Foundation through efforts to document wildlife and ecological characteristics at Uihlein Farm to provide a basis for future restoration and management of those lands for grassland birds and other species. This report documents our activities at Uihlein Farm during the 2021 field season; activities at Heaven Hill are described in a companion report.
