I had the immense pleasure of interviewing Evelyn Hadden, author of Beautiful No-Mow Yards: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives earlier this week to talk to her about the many different beautiful ways there are to replace our lawns.

“Beautiful No-Mow Yards” by Liz Chevat is a must-read for anyone who’s tired of spending hours mowing the lawn and wants to create a low-maintenance, eco-friendly yard. This book is packed full of practical tips, inspiring photos, and real-life examples of stunning no-mow yards.

The author starts by explaining the benefits of a no-mow yard, including less time spent on lawn maintenance, water conservation, and improved habitat for wildlife. She then goes on to share her expertise on selecting the right plants for your region, designing your yard for beauty and function, and managing weeds and pests in an eco-friendly way.

One of the things I love about this book is that it’s full of ideas for designing a yard that fits your unique style and tastes. Whether you prefer a lush, wildflower meadow or a neat, geometric garden, you’ll find plenty of inspiration in these pages. The author also includes tips for designing yards that are accessible for everyone, regardless of age or mobility.

What’s especially great about “Beautiful No-Mow Yards” is that it’s written in a casual, conversational tone. The author’s love for no-mow yards shines through in every page, and she makes it easy to understand the concepts and techniques she’s sharing.

Now of course, if you are looking at a wide expanse of lawn, it may seem a little daunting because its too big and you dont know where to start. Evelyn Hadden teaches us 5 Easy Ways to Start Reducing Your Lawn.

Evelyn launched this book with an internet event called A Love Letter to Wildlife, and I was proud to participate in that event with so many other writers.

You will learn:

• Why reducing our lawns is so important
• How we can create more wildlife habitat by reducing our lawns
• How to convince Hubby its a good idea to reduce your lawn
• How to overcome the No Lawn stigma and deal with your HOA
• Ideas for many different ways to replace lawn

Youll also learn how to create amazing experiences in the garden for you and your family, how to get your whole family to agree about those places where the lawn can be reduced, how to replace your lawn without spending a lot of money.

When you reduce your lawn and begin creating welcoming habitats for wildlife, you will also be creating beautiful and relaxing places where you and your family can enjoy the wonders of nature around you.

You can find out more about Evelyn Hadden and many other tips for reducing your lawn at her website LessLawn.

Last weekend Debra and I headed out for our weekly birding adventure, this time to visit Blackwater NWR after going to see the winter ducks at Cambridge waterfront on the Choptank River.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge:

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the critical migration highway called the Atlantic Flyway. Blackwater Refuge is located on Maryland’s scenic Eastern Shore, which is just 12 miles south of Cambridge, and consists of over 25,000 acres of freshwater impoundments, brackish tidal wetlands, open fields, and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests.

Blackwater Refuge contains one-third of Maryland’s tidal wetlands, which makes it an ecologically important area within the state. These wetlands also provide storm protection to lower Dorchester County, including the town of Cambridge.

Blackwater is currently home to the largest remaining natural population of endangered Delmarva fox squirrels and is also home to the largest breeding population of American bald eagles on the East Coast, north of Florida.

The Refuge has been referred to as the “Everglades of the North,” and has been called one of the “Last Great Places” by the Nature Conservancy.

I’d never been to this wildlife refuge before, and I was looking forward to seeing some hopeful signs of spring after the bitter cold and snowy Polar Vortex winter we’ve endured this year.

We pulled into the visitor’s center and were immediately treated to a flock of thousands of Snow Geese taking off all at once across the impoundment.

After using the facilities and doing a little shopping to support the refuge, we headed out to Wildlife Drive, a 5 mile auto loop with various walking trails to explore on foot.

Our first excitement came almost immediately, when we spotted a muskrat swimming along in the mud-colored water.

And then we observed several muskrat lodges among the grasses in the impoundments.

As we drove along the road by the impoundment, we got great views of an American Coot

And the Tundra Swans have yet to return to their arctic breeding grounds.

But then came some real excitement! My first Osprey of the season. Can it really be possible that spring really will return this year?

Another sign that spring will return, the Great Blue Herons are starting to sport their pretty breeding plumes.

But the major excitement of the day came when we got to watch a Bald Eagle hold off 6 Turkey Vultures as it stole their carrion lunch from them.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is an amazing place for birders, and I can’t wait until I get the chance to return again. It’s the kind of place where you will get to observe something new every day.

I’ve been telling stories of Libby (8), Penny (6), and Emmett (3) for several years now, and many of you have remarked about how much you’ve enjoyed watching them grow up.

Libby, age 8, has been passionate about learning more about nature since she was about 4 years old, and often reads one of the Golden Guides nature books as a bedtime story.

On this trip, Libby was using her Mom’s old iPhone’s camera to document our adventure. And today, with Libby’s permission (and her parents), we’re going to take a look at this adventure through her eyes. Teaching young children about the nature in our wildlife gardens, and exploring nature at parks and preserves is one of life’s greatest joys for me. And seeing nature through Libby’s eyes will be a blessing to you, too.

The following photos were all taken by Libby during our adventure at J Heinz Wildlife Refuge.

The Visitor Center Is Really Fun

Snapping Turtle

The Wild Turkey

Fun Shadows

The Educational Signs Are Fun to Read

Our Wildlife List for the Day

Libby’s list of fun stuff we saw:

• Wild Turkey
• Mallard mommy and daddy
• Tree swallow mommy and daddy choosing a nest house
• Robin
• Sparrow
• Dead Turtle
• Live Turtle
• Pigeon Poop

A big tip of my hat to Libby, Penny, and Emmett’s parents
Dean and Mary who have prioritized spending time in nature since Libby was first born. Mary is a pediatrician and Dean is a stay-at-home dad who found a new outdoor or nature adventure every day for these kids to explore.

I am blessed to have watched these kids grow up, and thrilled that Dean and Mary continue to invite us to share their lives.

Teaching kids about nature is one of the best gifts we can give them!

Here’s the story of this adventure through my eyes, Kids Adventures at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge.

See more of my favorite nature kids:

• Kids and Nature Enliven Your Life
• Sharing Nature With Kids in Winter
• Big Bugs at Morris Arboretum
]]> https://www.ecosystemgardening.com/healing-wounds-to-wildlife-3-habitat-fragmentation.html Wed, 08 Mar 2017 03:19:21 +0000 http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/?p=1991 Ecosystem Gardening is about giving something back to wildlife by healing the wounds caused by human activity in the environment. We can help by creating welcoming habitat for wildlife in our gardens, and when we band together with our neighbors and communities, we can create habitat corridors that give back so much more.

This is part 3 of my series on healing these wounds, and today we’ll be talking about the wound of habitat fragmentation.

Habitat fragmentation endangers wildlife by chopping their available habitat into smaller and smaller pieces, cutting them off from their biological processes.

Many birds are habitat specialists, needing specific habitat elements for their survival. As these habitats are cut into smaller and smaller pieces, many of these birds are now in great danger.

Fortunately, there are things we can do that will help heal the wound of habitat fragmentation.

Protect and restore habitats: Preserving existing habitats and restoring degraded areas can help connect fragmented habitats and provide wildlife with the resources they need to thrive.

Plant native species: Planting native species of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers can help to create new habitats and provide food and shelter for wildlife.

Create wildlife corridors: By planting vegetation in areas between fragmented habitats, wildlife can move more easily between habitats and avoid isolation.

Reduce the use of pesticides: The use of pesticides can reduce the food sources available to wildlife, so reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides can help to create healthier habitats.

Support conservation organizations: Supporting local and national conservation organizations that work to protect and restore habitats can help to ensure that these efforts are sustained over time.

Educate others: By sharing information about the importance of habitat fragmentation and the steps that can be taken to address it, you can help to raise awareness and mobilize others to take action.

By taking these steps and working together, we can help to heal the wounds caused by habitat fragmentation and ensure a healthier and more resilient ecosystem for generations to come.

]]> https://www.ecosystemgardening.com/tree-swallows-return.html Fri, 17 Feb 2017 05:28:56 +0000 http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/?p=1619 Tree Swallows are one of my favorite birds because they are one of the earliest birds to return from their southern wintering grounds. When I see my first Tree Swallow I truly know that the warmer, sunnier days of spring really are coming.
Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) are birds of marshes and open fields, and I often see them over the impoundments at my local wildlife Refuge. They hawk insects from the air, and since there are always lots of insects above the water in these ponds, the swallows have plenty to eat.


Tree Swallows nest in boxes, often in boxes placed out in the water. They will also use tree cavities, but it’s quite easy to attract them to a properly sized nest box.

I really enjoy this time of year when their flashes of iridescent blue sparkle above the water. They are amazing flyers, and I’ve spent a lot of time watching them scoop insects from the air.

They can also be seen chasing down other birds feathers, which they use to line their nests. Maybe they are the originators of the down blanket? When you open a box to clean out last years nests, you will see that they have woven a lot of feathers into each nest, maybe to keep their eggs and nestlings warm, since they return north.

One reason that Tree Swallows are able to return so early and get their nests built and eggs laid before the other swallows return is that they don’t go that far south for the winter, staying in Mexico and Central America as well as the Caribbean, but not venturing very far into South America.

After breeding season, these swallows gather together in large flocks, which can most easily be spotted around dusk as the flock swirls around over the water until all of them have dropped down to roost for the night.

]]> https://www.ecosystemgardening.com/lets-just-eat-the-invasive-plants.html Fri, 17 Feb 2017 04:26:36 +0000 http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/?p=1554 Several weeks ago, my friend Stacey Cornelius and I were having a discussion on twitter about how we could control invasive plants if we just started eating them.

We know that the top reasons that wildlife are declining are habitat loss due to human action and the spread of invasive plants. Humans are really good at destroying things and we’ve done quite a number on the environment.

But maybe we can put our predilection for destruction to a positive use by controlling invasive plants by eating them. Invasive plants are a problem because they do not have any associated predators in their new location. Therefore they are able to spread out of control and destroy wildlife habitat.

This is totally a human-caused problem. These plants continue to be sold in our nurseries, and lately passionate advocates for their continued sale and use in our landscapes have been touting their “benefits” to wildlife. To see this first-hand, just check out the comments to this post: Invasive Plants Revisited.

But now there is a new movement, the invasivores, who want to use our penchant for destroying everything we touch to good use to control these plants and other invasive species by eating them. In essence, WE will become the predators these plants are lacking in their introduced environments.

Think about it. What if we could control the highly invasive Autumn Olive by eating it? That would be so awesome!

The New York Times is even taking up this cause in a recent article: Can’t Eliminate an Invasive Species? Try Eating It!

The Invasive Plant Atlas of New England has a great recipe page for many of our worst invasive plants. I just love this site! I find it highly amusing

Let’s all take a stand now. Let’s eat up the invasive plants!

Have you eaten any invasive plants? How were they prepared?

Check out my new free online course Ecosystem Gardening Essentials, 15 free lessons delivered to your inbox every week, teaching you to garden sustainably, conserve natural resources, and create welcoming habitat for wildlife in your garden.

]]> https://www.ecosystemgardening.com/kill-the-bishops-weed.html Tue, 05 May 2020 15:54:17 +0000 http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/?p=1527 The Agony of Bishop’s Weed

I’ve been doing battle for 14 years now with an invasive insidious persistent thug called Bishop’s Weed, also known as Goutweed or Snow On The Mountain (Aegopodium podagraria).

Every year I swear I’m going to get the Bishop’s Weed all pulled out in early spring, and well before the time that it flowers because Bishop’s Weed, a highly invasive plant can produce a prodigious amount of seeds, and you really don’t want this plant reproducing anywhere near your wildlife garden!

But, life has a way of intervening and one spring I’ll walk out the door and those white umbels in flower will be taunting me. “Ha Ha, it says. I’ve won again.” Such was the case last Sunday morning when I had planned on having a birding adventure at Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge.

When I saw the Bishop’s Weed flowers, I immediately dropped everything and went to work to get it removed from my front garden.

Why?

Bishop’s Weed (Aegopodium podagraria) makes a thick carpet in garden beds, and also into woodland natural areas where it has escaped from gardens, and this thick carpet wipes out all the native spring ephemerals, blocking their access to the sun, outcompeting them for resources, and keeping them from being able to grow.

I love my Trilliums and other spring ephemerals far too much to allow them to be blocked by the invasive thug that is Bishop’s Weed!

So I pulled up a trash can and got to work. It’s been kind of like monsoon season here in southeastern Pennsylvania lately, so the ground was wet enough to make trying to pull out most of the root a bit easier.

Bishop’s Weed is a sneaky plant. From its long stoloniferous roots it will send up plant stalks–right next to the flower stems of your favorite native woodland plants, making it very difficult to pull it without also pulling out your natives.

When Debra arrived home from band practice expecting to leave for our birding adventure, I was armpit deep in a big patch of Bishop’s Weed, and none to happy that I hadn’t gotten it pulled or cut back before it started to flower.

She graciously grabbed another trashcan and went to work in the Goutweed patch, helping me to try to get my nemesis plant under control.



Satisfying to see so much Bishop’s Weed in the trash!

Three full trashcans and 5 hours later, we were very proud of ourselves for a job well done–until next weekend when we’ll have to go cut it back or pull it again…..

Thursday morning–5 DAYS after filling those trashcans–I noticed that the Bishop’s Weed in the trash cans was actually blooming. Unbelievable! It’s like it just won’t ever die. Even having been pulled out of the garden, it had happily re-rooted itself and with a taunting smile was blooming IN THE TRASH CAN.



5 days after pulling Bishop’s Weed and trashing it, it is blooming again!

And one other thing. For several years now I’ve gotten what I thought was Poison Ivy, even though I had never before been susceptible to it in my many years of landscaping. But recently after working in my garden I’ve gotten a blistery rash that itches so bad I make myself bleed from scratching it in my sleep.

Guess what? I now don’t think it’s Poison Ivy (but I’m not willing to go rub some Poison Ivy leaves on my arms to prove it, LOL). In doing some research for this article, I discovered that Bishop’s Weed can be a major skin irritant and have an itchy painful rash. Just one more reason to hate on the Goutweed. I feel like I’ll need to get a hazmat suit now so I can deal with getting rid of my nemesis plant.

Invasive Bishop’s Weed

Bishop’s Weed (Aegopodium podagraria) is native to Europe, northern Asia, and Siberia and was brought to this country as an ornamental plant. It was first noticed to have escaped cultivation and become invasive in Rhode Island in 1863.

Also known as Goutweed or Snow-on-the-Mountain, it wreaks havoc in moist, partly shaded woodlands and disturbed areas. It forms a dense mat that prohibits other plants from establishing.

This trait is especially harmful in natural wooded areas where it outcompetes native plants. Because of this, many native woodland plants are now highly endangered.

Native plants provide value for wildlife and contribute to ecosystem services. When invasive plants block out native plant communities, we are destroying wildlife value and contributing to less healthy ecosystems.

Bishop’s Weed (Goutweed, Snow-on-the-Mountain) is banned for sale in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, and is considered a noxious pest from Eastern Canada to Georgia and into the midwest, plus is invasive in the Pacific Northwest.

Bishop’s Weed has stoloniferous roots that spread far and wide under the soil. These greedy water seekers will suck up ALL of the water and keep nearby native plants from getting the moisture they need.

“Snow On The Mountain” sounds like such a pretty name for Aegopodium podagraria doesn’t it? But Ursula Vernon describes naming invasive plants perfectly:

If we really want to change people’s minds about invasive plants, I think we need to re-name them. Plenty of weeds could stand the re-branding treatment. Wild morning-glory sounds marvelous, exactly the sort of thing you’d put in a soap, but if we insist on calling it bindweed, we may get somewhere. Goutweed ought to be CALLED goutweed, and not dressed up as “snow-on-the-mountain.” Himalayan blackberry could probably be called “ravening monsterthorn” without anybody who is familiar with it complaining. And I’d pay good money to get the silk tree renamed to the “killer mayhembush.”

Eradicating Bishop’s Weed

The trouble is, pulling the invasive Goutweed is just a temporary measure. It’s root stolons travel far and wide underground, and unless you get every tiny speck of root out of your wildlife garden it’s going to keep coming back. I know. I’ve been pulling it for 14 years now. My neighbor across the street has been pulling it for more than 30 years now.

The best way to eradicate invasive Bishop’s Weed is to cut every stalk of it back as soon as it emerges in the spring. This will become a weekly chore, probably for several years. But the goal is to starve the roots by not allowing any energy from photosynthesis to reach the roots. So grab your garden shears in early spring and start snipping as soon as you see the Bishop’s Weed rearing it’s thuggish head. And keep snipping at least every week throughout the fall until it goes dormant.

Another method to eradicate the invasive Goutweed (only if you don’t have any native plants in this spot) is to cut it back and cover the entire area with black plastic–not at all aesthetically pleasing. You’re going to need to leave the black plastic there for at least 2 full seasons, and probably more. This will “cook” the plants and eventually kill the roots.

Whatever you do, DO NOT TILL the area where the invasive Bishop’s Weed is growing! Goutweed thrives in disturbed soil. If you till the area, you have just created prime habitat for the Aegopodium podagraria to thrive. You’ve succeeded in chopping up all of those long roots and made thousands of new plants waiting to terrorize your precious native spring ephemerals.

Don’t ever throw uprooted Bishop’s Weed into woodland areas. It will immediately re-root itself and invade your woodland–and you’ll never see your native spring ephemerals again. You can’t really compost it either, because when you spread that compost through your garden beds you’ll be greeted next spring by Goutweed in new places. It’s the plant that just refuses to die.

Vinegar does not work to eradicate the invasive Bishop’s Weed. The only thing that may kill it is something like RoundUp. But applying RoundUp or any other similar chemical is going to kill everything else it comes in contact with, including your native plants. RoundUp will also kill all of the organisms in your soil that keep your plants healthy. And for wildlife gardeners, financially supporting large chemical companies like Scotts MiracleGro (RoundUp distributor) or Monsanto (RoundUp manufacturer) is no way to support healthy ecosystems.

For me, this is never an option! So I keep pulling……..

Never Purchase Bishop’s Weed

The best way to eradicate invasive Bishop’s Weed is to NOT PLANT IT! And the big box stores like Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart need to make more responsible decisions and stop selling it, especially with cute marketing gimmicks like “Vigorous Grower” “Fills in Problem Spots Quickly” My best advice to you is that if you see any plant marked this way at Home Depot, RUN AWAY! Most of the plants they are marketing as “Spreads Quickly” will eat your house, swallow your garden, and make your gardening so much harder in years to come as you realize that you’ve been duped and now you’re spending all of your garden time trying to get rid of some plant that was a huge mistake to add to your garden.

Native Alternatives to Invasive Bishop’s Weed

A great native alternative to the invasive Bishop’s Weed is Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea), also a plant in the carrot family and a larval host plant for Black Swallowtail Butterflies.

Heather Holm describes Golden Alexanders like this:

Golden Alexanders are a great native addition to the landscape because they flower early in the spring. The clusters of yellow flowers are arranged in an umbel. The small flowers provide much needed nectar and pollen for emerging native bees.

Also see Golden Alexander Faunal Associations for photos and descriptions of the wide variety of native pollinators who use this plant. Since native pollinators don’t recognize Bishop’s Weed as a larval food plant, this invasive plant serves no ecological function for wildlife.

Wouldn’t you rather have something in your wildlife garden that actually supports wildlife, and does not require all your free time to keep it under control?

 

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]]> https://www.ecosystemgardening.com/life-in-the-leaf-litter-dont-throw-a-good-thing-away.html Wed, 28 Sep 2022 15:54:18 +0000 http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/?p=1447 This is the time of year when those giant paper bags full of fallen leaves start appearing on sidewalks around the country. This is also the time of year I drive around my neighborhood picking up those bags of leaves in my truck and spreading them throughout my garden beds.

The practice of removing our yard waste to landfills is enormously unsustainable:

• We spend endless hours raking, blowing, and bagging the leaves that fall every year.
• The use of leaf blowers is a source of noise pollution and air pollution, and uses large amounts of non-renewable fossil fuel.
• These huge piles are hauled away by truck, using more gasoline and causing more air pollution.
• Often this organic yard material is dumped into landfills, which destroys wildlife habitat.
• Then we have mulch trucked in to replace the benefits of the leaves we just hauled away.
• And we replace the nutrients that were freely available from the decomposition of those leaves with synthetic fertilizers, which are another petroleum product.

This cycle cannot be sustained without causing increasing damage to our environment. It is much more sustainable to manage this yard waste on our own properties.

Fortunately, this is very easy to do and also returns nutrients to the soil, provides habitat for many organisms, and ensures healthy plants.

I pile up these leaves in every one of my flower beds, sometimes it is more than two feet deep. In the spring I take a hand rake and loosen the leaves around my emerging plants, which hide the leaves during the growing season. By the time the next leaves fall, the old leaves have completely decomposed and the soil is ready for a new blanket.

Why do I do this?

• There is a cycle of life contained in the leaf litter and we destroy many forms of wildlife every time we remove these leaves.
• Many butterflies find shelter in the leaf litter, either in egg, pupal, or adult form, to safely wait out the winter and emerge in the spring.
• Leaf litter provides food and shelter to an amazing variety of invertebrates who break down the leaves, which feeds the soil and other wildlife.
• Healthy plants are dependent on healthy soil.
• The deeper the leaf litter, the more spiders are supported. Spiders are an essential element in keeping pest insects in balance.
• Leaf litter is also home to ladybugs, salamanders, toads, and other predators of pest insects. It is no wonder that pests like aphids thrive when we continue to destroy the habitat of the predators that would keep them under control.
• Every spring these leaves are covered with birds who pick through the leaves in search of a tasty meal.
• Trucked in mulch is not necessary when the leaves are left to cover the soil because the leaf litter acts as a natural blanket of mulch, controlling soil moisture and temperature.

I know there are many gardeners who cannot bear the thought of even one leaf creating a “mess” in their pristine garden beds. But it’s easy to tuck the leaves under your shrubs or in a back corner where they can work their magic and leave your sense of tidyness intact.

Or the leaves can be composted and then spread over your soil so at least the natural nutrients can be returned to the soil.

The benefits to your local wildlife far outweigh any need for neatness.

]]> https://www.ecosystemgardening.com/whats-native.html Wed, 28 Sep 2022 15:54:18 +0000 http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/?p=1352 I was chatting last night with my twitter friend @OurLittleAcre, otherwise known as Kylee Baumle, author of the wonderful blog, Our Little Acre. She had a trillium in bloom in her garden, and she wasn’t sure which species it was.

So, using the tools at her disposal, she posted a photo on twitter and asked for help.

You may remember that Trilliums are among my favorite wildflowers, and I had a good idea which one it was (Trillium ovatum), but I checked the USDA plants database and sent my response off to Kylee.

If you clicked that link to the USDA plants database, you may have noticed that Trillium’s common name is “Pacific Trillium,” and you might assume that Kylee lives on the West Coast. But that would be a false assumption to make.

Kylee’s Little Acre is located in Ohio, and she had purchased this Trillium from her local Lowes in a selection of prepackaged “natives.”

Now this totally begs the question “What is native?”

Some suppliers call plants native if they are native to the US. You have to be really careful if purchasing from this type of supplier, though. A native plant to Florida will probably not do very well in your Michigan garden. An Arizona native is not going to thrive in your Pennsylvania garden.

Other gardeners are much more specific about what native means, some will only purchase plants that are native to their state. Some will only purchase plants that have been propagated within a 50 mile radius of their home.

The question is, how do YOU define native?

“Our Little Acre” by Kylee Baumle is a charming, down-to-earth book about one woman’s journey to create a wildlife-friendly garden in her own backyard.

In the book, Kylee shares her experiences and lessons learned as she transforms her small, suburban lot into a thriving wildlife habitat. She covers everything from planning and designing her garden, to choosing the right plants and creating inviting spaces for birds, butterflies, and other critters.

One of the things I love about this book is how accessible and relatable it is. Kylee writes with a casual, conversational tone that makes you feel like you’re chatting with a friend over a cup of tea. And even though she’s a seasoned gardener, she’s not afraid to admit when she’s made mistakes or had to learn things the hard way. It’s this honesty and vulnerability that makes the book so endearing.

Of course, the other thing that makes “Our Little Acre” so great is all the amazing tips and advice Kylee shares. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a complete newbie, there’s something in this book for everyone. From the basics of soil and composting, to more advanced topics like attracting beneficial insects and creating a frog pond, Kylee covers it all.

]]> https://www.ecosystemgardening.com/winter-birding-activities.html Sat, 04 Feb 2017 21:24:44 +0000 http://www.ecosystemgardening.com/?p=649 While the weather is swinging wildly from unseasonably warm temperatures one week to the brutal cold of the Polar Vortex the next, and many of our wildlife gardens lie under a blanket of snow, winter is a great time to participate in some fun winter birding activities.

I’ve put together a list of fun birding adventures for young and old to do, some from within the warmth of your own home looking through a window overlooking your wildlife garden, some to meet other birders in your neighborhood, and some a little further afield.

So grab your binoculars, and let’s head out so see some winter birds!

Here are some cold winter birding activities you can do:

Feeding Birds: Providing food for birds during winter is a great way to help them survive and attract them to your backyard for easy viewing. Fill bird feeders with black oil sunflower seeds, suet cakes, or other high-fat foods to keep birds warm and energized.

Winter Bird Watching: With fewer leaves on the trees, winter can be an excellent time to observe birds in their natural habitats. Dress warmly and bring a pair of binoculars to help you get a closer look at the different species of birds in your area.

Nest Box Monitoring: Installing a nest box in your yard and monitoring it throughout the winter can provide valuable insights into bird behavior and nesting patterns. Keep an eye out for signs of activity, such as birds entering and leaving the box, and keep track of your observations in a journal.

Bird Photography: Winter can provide unique opportunities for bird photography, as the low sun angle can create beautiful lighting conditions. Use a tripod, a telephoto lens, and a bird identification book to capture stunning images of the birds in your area.

Birding Excursions: Join a local birding club or attend a guided bird walk to explore new habitats and observe a wider variety of birds. These outings can also provide opportunities to connect with other bird enthusiasts and learn about the different species in your area.

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