FLOW is sponsoring a meeting on “Winter Bird Feeding: Do’s and Dont’s”

• Where: Worthington Public Library Northwest (2280 Hard Road, Columbus, OH 43235)
• When: January 19th at 7:00 pm
• Who: Tom Sheley of Wild Birds Unlimited will speak on the different issues and topics related to bird feeding. Known as accomplished naturalist, Mr. Sheley was invited by the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Foundation to search for the fabled woodpecker in the Cache River wilderness in Arkansas. He also comes highly recommended by Ohio  Dept. of Natural Resources staff. Please join us to learn how we can help our feathered friends and enjoy their beauty this winter.

Hi from Toni & Marc, National Wildlife Federation Habitat Ambassadors!

What do you see when you look at a flowerbed that has gone to seed?  I see beautiful songbirds, natural mulch that retains water, tiny leaf-litter animals improving soil, materials for next year’s native bird nests, and cover for bugs that are a critical part of our food chain.  Leaf litter is much different than most human litter. It is used and recycled by the soil food chain.

Being a neat freak in the yard not only destroys habitat value, but it’s important to us too. “Perhaps solid waste landfills … are the single largest man-made source of methane in the United States” says Janet Marinelli in an article from the National Wildlife Magazine at www.nwf.org/NationalWildlife/printerFriendly.cfm?issueID=124&articleID=1646

Watch for Chimney Swifts gathering for migration at very large, uncapped chimneys.  They look like smoke going into the chimney – what a show! 
Here are directions to one site in Columbus:  http://columbusoh.wbu.com/content/show/25766

Migration is here.  See approximate fall migration timetable from birdnature:   http://www.birdnature.com/falloh.html

Cricket weathermen!  Count the cricket chirps in 13 seconds and add 40 to get the approximate current temperature. Only males chirp for courting and this only works down to about 55 degrees.  Below that it’s too cold to court.  http://www.snopes.com/science/cricket.asp

Take time out each day to look in your yard and enjoy! 

– Toni, www.backyardhabitat.info

+ Nature ‘Stuff’
- Weds, 9/9, 8:45-3:15, Invasive Plants in Southeast
Ohio, 710 Collegiate Dr, Marietta, see: www.oipc.info for more information
- Sat, 9/12, 10AM, Growing Native Trees in Pots, Inniswood Metro Park,Westerville,  Scroll down at http://www.for-wild.org/chapters/columbus
- Sun, 9/13, 2-5pm, Green Family Fun event, in front of wind turbine and solar panels at Glacier Ridge Metro Park
- Sept 11, 12 or 13, A Swift’s Night Out, 30 minutes before dusk. 1919 West Bridge Street in Dublin. If you’d like to count them and report your tally see http://www.chimneyswifts.org/
- Sat,9/19, 9am-6pm, Scioto Gardens’ Fall Equinox Festival, page down to special events at Scioto Gardens here http://www.sciotogardens.com/events.html
- Sat, 10/3, Wildlfest, Ohio Wildlife Center, http://ohiowildlifecenter.org/ click on Events
- Tues, 10/6, MORPC Summit at COSI, 8am-6pm, www.greenregion.org/

Hi from Toni & Marc, National Wildlife Federation Habitat Ambassadors!

Hope you are enjoying signs of spring. We are having our annual ‘Parade of Certified Wildlife Gardens’ on Sunday, June 28. If you have a certified yard in Worthington that you would like to show or if you would like to volunteer to help host a yard (greet people, hand out fliers), please email back. Hours are 10-1 and/or 1-4.

It’s fun and easy to get certified. Requirements are: 3 forms of Food (berries, seeds, etc), 1 form of Water (bird bath counts), 2 forms of Cover (bushy areas, etc), 2 Places to raise young (trees, host plants, etc) and 2 forms of Sustainable Gardening Practices (controlling exotic species, organic practices, conservation, etc). You can download the application as a .pdf to find out more about the requirements or certify online at www.nwf.org/certify.

In 1972, US Foresters from Massachusetts discovered that you could effectively scale down a habitat to a small area. It doesn’t take a large space in your yard to make an effective habitat. If neighbors join together, you can earn a Certified Wildlife Community. The City of Dublin has earned enough points to be qualified for official registration. We hope to see more cities going greener! Ohio website: www.backyardhabitat.info

+ National Wildlife Presentations: – Thurs, 3/7, 7-9pm, Certify Your Backyard! Old Worthington Library, Meeting Room, 820 High St , Worthington, 43085, sponsored by Library – Mon, 3/23, 7-8:30pm Beautify Your Backyard! Grandview Heights Library, Meeting Room, 1685 W. First Ave, Columbus 43212, sponsored by Grandview Garden Club

+ Toni’s latest nature article:

- ‘Buy for Ohio Birds’ (Indicators of our air quality) Click below, then click on February-March, 2009 and go to Page 8 http://www.columbusaudubon.org/newsletter/SS_2009_FebMar.pdf

+ Nature ‘Stuff’

- Sat, 3/14, 10am Attracting Birds to your garden with Native Plants, Tom Sheley, Sharon Wood Spring Hollow Lodge, 1069 W Main St, Westerville, scroll down at http://www.for-wild.org/chapters/columbus/ – Weds, 5/6, 7pm – Dr Jaret Daniels, “Butterflies of Ohio’ guide author, will speak at Cox Arboretum MetroPark, 6733 Springboro Pike, reservations requested, walk-ins welcome, see www.metroparks.org – Fri-Sun, 5/1-5/3 -Paul Knoop, Ian Adams, Guy Denny and Dr. Jaret Daniels, author of Butterflies of Ohio, Shawnee State Park, special discounted lodge and cabin rates, see www.flora-quest.com

Many of our wildlife reports come from Ann Laubach. I’d bet ten dollars most of us have seen her walking in the ravine. She lives with her eyes wide open. Here’s a recent report:

Ann writes:

To answer your question about wildlife, we’ve seen a fox several times the last month, always the same one, I think, its tail looks odd, kind of poodle-like, very skinny in the middle, and then puffy at the end.  It lay down in the sun under a bush in our backyard for a while.  My neighbor two doors down had what she thought was a young buck (she said it had little antler buds) get its leg stuck on her fence.  Another neighbor had to free it with wire cutters and it limped away.  The same neighbor with the deer said she had seen the coyote for the first time, that was perhaps in January.

My family participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count over Presidents’ Day weekend.  Twenty species total, _162_ English sparrows one day, 22 robins another day.  According to the website, robins are the bird with the highest count in the GBBC (it’s supposed to be birds seen within about a mile of the address that you list, which in our case was our home.)

We also had a opossum nosing around the yard after dark recently.  And a beautiful hollow tree along Overbrook Drive near Indianola is home to at least one fat raccoon.

That’s all I can think of right now.

Ann

So at least one good thing came out of the beech tree coming down from Ike–a barred owl seems to be checking out the hollow tree as a potential home! Not even disturbed by roofers pounding and moving around this morning (he was keeping an eye on them and me). Now if only I can keep the crows from scaring him/her away–they (~8 crows) surrounded the tree and shouted at it, and the owl just went farther into the tree.

Merry Christmas Eve Owl!

Derek Hansford

[Derek Hansford lives on Glenmont near the Wynding and Glenmont intersection]

Hi from National Wildlife Federation Habitat Ambassadors (Marc and Toni Stahl)!

Backyard Habitat: ‘Greening’ Your Fall Yard Cleanup, NATIONAL WILDLIFE MAGAZINE, Oct/Nov 2008.

For fellow bird watchers, our yard provided food and a rest stop for a migrating male Black & White Warbler, Swainsons Thrush, and Ovenbird all within a 24-hr time period. They stayed about 3 days to refuel. Then we had 2 Nashville Warblers. It was a fun learning experience to watch these migrants’ secretive behavior, especially the Black & White creeping up and down our Hackberry tree. We spotted these special visitors on our dripper bird bath and waterfall feature. A fellow volunteer with a small backyard habitat hosted a Cape May Warbler. Does your yard make a difference?

Who goes outside in nature more, children in urban, suburban, or rural areas? Studies show ‘None Of The Above,’ due primarily to over-scheduling (soccer, music lessons, homework, computer games, etc). Did you realize that many more children are now getting obese and developing Type II Diabetes? Physicians recommend 1 hour of unstructured outdoor play per day, see www.greenhour.org.

Special event: Sat, 10/18, Nuturing Nature, Connect Children (and ourselves) To Nature: Sharon Woods Metro Park. Keynote speaker is Dr Ruth Wilson, who has been working in childhood environmental education since the early 90′s, $8; Register by October 10th: Request Registration Information via email, or contact Betsy Loeb at 614-224-0222 ext. 126.

* Additional information on the benefits of connecting kids with nature:
- Free booklet from National Wildlife Federation (takes a bit to download): Connecting kids with nature
- Children and nature network: www.childrenandnature.org/

* NWF team’s upcoming events open to the public
- Thurs, 10/16, 3:30-8:30pm, Exhibit inside the Dublin Community Rec Center
www.dublin.oh.us/events/spooktacular/
- Sun, 11/9, 1-5pm, Read to Your Baby Festival, Old Worthington Library
- Columbus Wild Ones Free Events: www.for-wild.org/chapters/columbus/

Deb Lanata writes: I thought you might like to know (in case you didn’t already) that there is an owl frequenting the ravine area behind 4041 N High (west side of Glenmont and High).  I often eat dinner down there when I’m working and I’ve seen the owl twice, heard it hooting several times, even after dark.

Hi neighbors,

The spring bird migration is in full force, with many birds returning and many more winging their way through our neighborhood and headed north. If you maintain feeders, now’s the time to keep them full. I’ve been treated to a flock of rose-breasted grosbeaks for the last week, who have ravenously devoured sunflower seeds from my feeders. One evening I had 5 males all at once! Orioles are also returning, so if you place an orange half in a secure place (up and away from our raccoons), you may attract these beauties, too.

This Satuday is International Migratory Bird Day. Birders from across the country will be out in force counting species and numbers. The theme this year is ”Tundra to Tropics: Connecting Birds, Habitats, and People”. Say Hi if you see any birders in the ravine this weekend.

And remember - keep cats indoors!

Greg

Greg Cunnigham, Ohio Audubon Board Member

Ann Almoney reports a barred owl couple sitting in the woodland on Overbrook off Indianola near the Matthews-Hoyer home. If you take a walk between 7 – 8 PM, chances are you’ll see at least one of the owls. Listen for the crows or bluejays “yelling” at their presence. Ann also reports a Merlin sighting and says she thinks a blue heron is nesting in the area. Several neighbors report regular sightings of the heron.

Toni Stahl, National Wildlife Federation representative writes:

If you find that robins have decided your yard is home, there are less berries due to the warm then cold snaps last spring.  Their beaks are soft so they cannot eat seeds, and you can help them by chopping up dried fruits, especially raisins or currants, and providing frost-free water until the ground softens enough that they can eat worms.