ASHLAND – The Bobolinks and Butterfly Festival at Byers Woods will celebrate its first decade on Saturday, June 25, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
If you’ve never heard of a bobolink, it’s a small New World blackbird known for its bubbling song that is considered a species of concern by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Population numbers have declined in recent years, in part due to mowing and haying of the bird’s grassland habitat during the peak breeding month of June.
The infographic below shows some details about the colorful bird.
The festival, which is a joint venture between the GMAS and the Ashland County Park District, will feature guided bird and insect walks and people will be able to explore the park on their own. Visitors will get the rare opportunity to view nesting bobolinks in their protected environment.
Bobolinks may be the main attraction but the diverse habitats of Byers Woods are also home to an eye-catching array of butterflies, wildlife and songbirds.
One bird visitors might see is a Purple Martin, which park management is working to help attract.
“We just put up two 18-gourd racks for Martins and the first one when we put it up, within a half hour we had a young one there checking it out, so that looks good for next year,” said Tim Leslie, president of the Greater Mohican Audubon Society.
Leslie, president of the GMAS, said the history of the Bobolinks festival in Ashland County can be traced to the Greater Mohican Audubon Society using the bird in its logo.
Byers Woods was the first park created when the county formed the Ashland County Park District, and there were bobolinks nesting on the mounds of the park, which was the Ashland County Landfill from 1971 to 1997. When the park was formed, the GMAS faced an issue with mowing too early in the year for the bobolinks. A local farmer mows the property twice a year, which is required by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as part of the landfill closing procedures. The county asked the farmer, who gets to keep the hay he mows from the park, to delay mowing until July 10, a date which should allow the fledgling bobolinks to be old enough to leave the nest, Leslie said.
“There’s plenty of birds to see,” Leslie said. “Byers Woods is neat because it has such varied habitats. You’ve got the ponds, you’ve got the woods, you’ve got the grasslands, you’ve got the thickets, so there’s a lot of different species there to see.”
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own cameras and tools to view the birds and wildlife on display. Spotting scopes will be placed at the edge of the park’s grasslands so visitors can view the bobolinks and other birds up-close.
The event will take place rain or shine.
“I went out in the pouring rain last year and we hiked. Bird watchers are that way. They’re going to go no matter what. I had a good crew of them walking with me in the rain,” Leslie said.
Other wildlife-related organizations and vendors will have booths set up at the festival. Snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.
Byers Woods is located on County Road 1754 just east of Ohio 60 south of Ashland. For more information, visit the GMAS website.
