Be sure your feeders and birdbaths are filled up this week so that the birds will be sure to visit your yard this weekend for the Great Backyard Bird Count! 

From www.birdcount.org:

“Bird watchers coast to coast are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010.  Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers counting birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges. 

Each checklist submitted by these “citizen scientists” helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how the birds are doing—and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent’s largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.” 

I have participated in this event for the last 3 years, and always enjoy it!  I usually sit on my screen porch in the back so I don’t scare birds away.  You simply count the species that you see, and submit the highest number of any species you see at one time.  It’s very simple, and I have learned quite a bit about identifying birds!  I use “All About South Carolina Birds” by Fred J. Alsop, III, and a good pair of binoculars.  Make sure your feeders are full, and settle in for some birdwatching! 

Let me know if you have any questions about this event.  I will post my tallies on this blog.  Let me know what you see too!

From Myrtle Beach Sun News 1/23/10

One of the guiding principles in gardening instructs us to put the right plant in the right place. Growers and nurseries provide plant tags filled with valuable information to help buyers select wisely. Some tags now even identify plants that attract hummingbirds and butterflies or deter deer and rabbits. However, no tag tells the whole story about what a plant will add to your yard.

Our best plant performers are able to endure through our particular coastal heat, humidity, erratic cold snaps, droughts and wet weather. They play a valuable role in the local ecosystem. They behave in such a way that they are not invasive, or needy with regard to water or fertilizer. They are also disease and pest resistant.

How does a gardener identify such wonderful low-maintenance performers? Native and adapted plants are the answer. The following notes and resources will hopefully help guide you beyond the plant tags.

Read the Full Article at:
http://www.thesunnews.com/127/v-print/story/1275973.html

From National Wildlife Federation Website - view full article

•To discourage use of dangerous pesticides, avoid fruits and vegetables imported from Latin America unless they are labeled “organic.”
•Buy shade-grown coffee that is organic and fair-traded to help increase tropical forest acreage for wildlife and encourage sustainable farming practices. For more, see www.nwf.org/birdsandglobalwarming.
•Promote sustainable logging practices that safeguard habitat by buying wood and paper products made from timber harvested in forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. See www.nwf.org/forests.

Bluebirds start looking for suitable nesting places in February each year.  Now is the time to clean out your bluebird box and make sure it is ready for the bluebirds! 

Bluebirds are picky about their nesting boxes.  They like them placed about 6 feet high in an open area.  They like to be able to sit on top and look all around the yard.  You don’t have to have a big yard, but it’s good to place the box in the middle of a grassy area.

Mount all bird nesting boxes on a metal pole with some sort of predator baffle on it.  Eggs and hatchlings are an easy target for predators, and there are MANY dangers for young bird families.   You can even grease the pole with a heavy grease like axle grease to keep out snakes and fire ants.  Also make sure your nesting box has a predator guard around the entrance hole – this may either be a metal ring or an extra layer of wood around the entrance hole to reinforce it.  This will keep squirrels, raccoons, etc. from enlarging the entrance hole for easier access to their dinner. 

Place the house facing the morning sun so the nest doesn’t get too hot in the afternoons.  If you have more than one bluebird house, make sure they are at least 100 feet apart.  If you’ve had the box(es) in the same place for a number of years with no success, try just moving it to a new location.

You can entice bluebirds into your yard by offering them mealworms.  Buy mealworms at Wild Birds Unlimited store, or Doctors Foster & Smith online.  You can put them in a dish on your patio, or buy a feeding cup to attach to your feeder pole or nesting box pole. 

Some other species that will use a bluebird house include: chickadee, tufted titmouse, house wren, nuthatch, and prothonotary warbler.

45^th Annual SCWF Conservation Awards Banquet

Saturday, January 23, 2010

SCHEDULE

Brunch -11:00 a.m., Robert Mills Court House

607 Broad Street Camden, SC

SCWF Board Meeting (all welcome to attend) – 1:30pm, Clarion Hotel

Governors’ Candidate Forum – 3:30 p.m., Clarion Hotel

1615 Gervais Street Columbia, SC

Reception – 5:00 p.m.  *Cash Bar, Clarion Hotel

Awards Banquet Dinner – 6:00 p.m., Clarion Hotel

View full article at National Wildlife Federation’s Gardening Website

ONE DAY LAST WINTER when the mercury hovered around zero degrees, I had barely finished topping off one of the birdbaths in our yard with tepid water when some chickadees and titmice flew onto its rim. Jumping in, two and three at a time, they began their bathing rituals. This delightful scene, coupled with the daily visits of a shy hermit thrush, inspired me to be more vigilant and inventive during the remaining weeks of cold weather to ensure that my birdbaths were kept free of ice.

What a difference my vigilance made. Since offering a year-round source of water, I have observed a marked increase in wildlife visiting our yard, especially in frigid temperatures when natural ponds and puddles are frozen over.

View full article at National Wildlife Federation’s Gardening Website

Just a quick note to wish you all a Happy New Year! Do you have any gardening resolutions? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Stop using pesticides
2. Start a compost pile
3. Use rain barrels to collect & reuse rain water
4. Use only organic fertilizers
5. Buy only native plants
6. Remove invasive plants
7. Reduce lawn area by adding flower beds
8. Use newspaper under mulch to keep weeds down, instead of Round-up
9. Take the Master Gardener class
10. Have yard certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation
11. Keep feeders & water sources full
12. Buy a bird book and keep a running tally of species you see in the yard
13. Plant a tree (native!)
14. Divide plants and share with a neighbor or nearby school
15. Visit a Botanical Garden for inspiration

School’s out, so what are parents to do with all this free time and extra energy? There are lots of great ideas on the NWF’s Be Out There website. Check it out! Leave a comment and let us know how you’re getting the kids outside over break!

I just put up my Christmas lights in my front yard, and noticed a bird perched on some garland that my neighbor had hung around her windows. This got me thinking – maybe I could make some Christmas decorations for the yard that the birds would enjoy too! I found some great ideas online, so I thought I’d share some with you.

Read the rest of this entry »

Volunteers are needed!  Friends, volunteers and staff of Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge along with the SC Wildlife Federation will host a workday at the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge (Chesterfield County) on Saturday, December 12, 2009.  The workday is an annual project of the SC Wildlife Federation.  Plan to join us for a day of learning about refuge wildlife and performing physical activity including protecting red-cockaded woodpecker trees, maintaining trails, cleaning and sealing boardwalks and overlooks, installing trail signs, and building information kiosks.

Participants should wear field clothes and bring work gloves, drinks, and a snack.  Participants will meet at the Refuge Headquarters at 9:00 a.m.  The Headquarters Office is located 3.5 miles east of McBee on US Highway 1 in Chesterfield County.  The workday will conclude at noon, but participants may wish to picnic at Lake Bee before leaving the refuge.  If you would like to volunteer, please register with SCWF or call (803) 256-0670.  If you plan to bring a group, please call ahead so that we can plan for your group.

Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge is a 46,000-acre longleaf pine ecosystem that supports more than 190 species of birds, 42 species of mammals, 41 species of reptiles, and 25 species of amphibians.  More than 800 species of plants have been identified on the refuge, including rare species of pitcher plants, Well’s pixie-moss, and the white-wicky.  The Friends of Carolina Sandhills NWR is a group of citizens dedicated to supporting the role of the refuge in protecting and preserving the longleaf-wiregrass ecosystem; promoting the enjoyment and responsible use of the refuge by the public; and engaging in educational and civic activities to promote the refuge and wise stewardship of its resources.