“Backyards for Wildlife: Digging for Gold!” – Scroll down to page 7 in the Columbus Audubon Song Sparrow.

Now is a good time to clean bird feeders for winter.  Dip them in a 10% Clorox 90% water solution, and spray with water until all the bleach is gone.  Tom Sheley, Wild Birds Unlimited-Riverside, says to completely air dry them to get rid of the chlorine that would change the taste of the seed.  Clean again later in the season if gunk builds up. Here are some tips for Ohio Fall Yard Care.  When doing cleanup, keep in mind that most native butterflies, like other helpful, native insects, stay here in the winter and need cover.

Organic lawn Care – Apply corn gluten mid-August to mid-Sept as a pre-emergent weed control and natural fertilizer. Preen is using 100% corn gluten meal as the 100% active ingredient only in its Preen Organic Vegetable Garden product.  Approximately 4 weeks afterward, you can over-seed any bare or weedy areas.  Read details in the Columbus Dispatch.

We depend on bees to pollinate our foods, and they are disappearing. Think organic is safe?  Some organics are toxic to bees. Go to the table on page 2 of the Factsheet – notice that corn gluten I use on my lawn is in the green!

+ Nature “Stuff”
-  Register 9/2, Thurs, 9/22, 8:30-4, SE Ohio Tree Care Conference, ODNR, Athens
-  9/1-mid Sept, M-Sat 10-4, Sun noon-5, Native Butterfly House in Alliance, $2, Beech Creek Botanical Gardens
-  Fri, 9/2, 7:15pm, A Swift Night Out Galena, Darlene Sillick & Columbus Audubon
-  Fri, 9/9, 7pm, A Swift Night Out Dublin, Darlene Sillick & Columbus Audubon
-  Sat, 9/10, 10am-4pm, Monarch Day Celebration, Blendon Woods Metro Park Nature Center map, Westerville
-  Sat, 9/10, 9am-4pm EDT, Monarch Watch online live open house (scroll down)
-  Sat, 9/10, 10am, Cedar Bog Nature Preserve Tour, south of Urbana, scroll down at Wild Ones
-  Jim McCormac wrote an informational blog about his childhood front yard landscaping
-  Thurs-Sun, 9/15-18, Midwest Birding Symposium (Sat, 9/17, 2pm, Birders Going Beyond Birds by Jim McCormac), Lakeside
-  Fri-Sun, 9/9-9/11, Sunset Swift Night Out, by a large chimney tower where you have seen Swifts roost
-  See sunset times for Ohio, choose location, click on make calendar

The two-hour workshops are free and open to the public. Columbus residents who attend a workshop will be eligible to purchase a rain barrel at a cost share price of $30. Residents of other municipalities may participate in the workshop, but, due to funding restrictions, they will not be eligible to receive the cost share price.

Due to the high demand in previous years, we have switched to a new registration system. Registration will begin at 12:01 AM on June 1, 2009 and will be on a first come, first served basis. No registrations will be received prior to that time. We recommend registering as early as possible in the process, as space is limited and workshops will fill quickly.

To register, complete the attached form and email to hdean@olentangywatershed.org, or call 614-267-3386 and leave your name and phone number.

Please spread this information to your contact lists.

Heather Dean
Watershed Coordinator
Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed
614-267-3386
www.olentangywatershed.org