Day 145: May 24th – Benedict Farm

Overcast, low 70s, and calm

       In the Town of Montgomery, NY, Benedict Farm Park remains as one of the few parcels of true grassland habitat in the county.  Well, that is at least partly true.  Several years ago, a true rarity in Orange County, the Sedge wren, was found in the park.  Folks were hoping that the bird would have a mate and breed, but that never seemed to be in the cards.  In any case, the powers that be in Montgomery had it in their mind that the park would be better utilized as a sports complex and playground that preserving the grounds as native grasslands as it was originally intended.

     Orange County Audubon, the State DEC, and the Mearns Bird Club all fought to prevent the town from developing the site and were in the process of legal action when the town took it upon themselves to begin the project without all the proper impact studies being completed. 

       Along with the wren, many other grassland birds such as Grasshopper sparrows, Bluebirds, Eastern meadowlarks, and Bobolinks were calling the park home when development began.  Fortunately, the state intervened and stopped the project, but only after a large parcel of the land had been cleared and turned into a huge playground.  Access to the park’s interior via a dirt road was plowed under and now one must park up in the playground lot and hike down into the area.  Not a big deal except for those folks who find it difficult to get around and enjoy birding at sites they can gain access to by car.

       Well, today, we decided to check out the area and see what damage the town had done.  We were pleases to see that although the mowers were hard at work, they were sparing much of the grassland habitat and leaving it to the purpose for which it was originally intended.   We found Bobolinks still using  the area that was untouched.  Both Barn swallows and Tree swallows were present with the Tree swallows using Bluebird boxes as nesting sites. 

Willow flycatcher

       Our best sighting of the day was the Willow flycatcher doing its thing in the swampy area located at the area near the entrance of the park.  We searched for Grasshopper and Swamp sparrows to no avail, but we really did not have a great deal of time to devote to said search, so the birds may in fact still be there.  It certainly warrants further birding outings to check and recheck the site. 

      Bottom line is that if the town had gone ahead and built the baseball fields it was planning on, none of the prime habitat would remain here at Benedict Farm.  Thanks goodness for the intervention of those interested parties that were willing to take on the town and fight the good fight.