Getting started in birdwatching & gardening (on the cheap)

 

 

They’re a lot alike. Both birdwatching and gardening can be done at home, cost very little and take a minimum of effort. They sort of feed off each other too. Birdwatching, like gardening, can be done quite well at almost no cost. "Unless you want to" is the key phrase; there are no books you absolutely need to have, no clubs to join, no trips to take, no special clothes etc. Unless you want to do these things.

 To start from a standstill in birdwatching, just read this blog. No “expert” quotes from it because it deals with the basics – like where to put birdbaths, what our local birds eat,  what their nests look like and so. These are things we all had to learn at some point, but were too intimidated to ask. Our blog deals with north Texas birds and local situations, like our super-hot summer. 

Birdwatching is like gardening since you “learn by doing” – like riding a bicycle.  Nobody can do it wrong, but every single person can do it better.(Right now in north Texas, any birdwatching should be done early, early in the morning or from behind glass. Almost all gardening activities can simply be put on hold until about mid-September)

 Showing your grandchildren things like a bird pecking its way out of an egg, a mother bird teaching juveniles how to bathe or a seedling sprouting and twisting to catch the sun, is enlightening to everyone!

 

 

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

 

 

Variety in birdfeeders attracts a whole lot more birds to your yard!

Variety is the spice of life.

Most of my fellow bird-fanciers have more than one birdfeeder (we have nine). That way, of course, you can attract more than one kind of bird. Birds are a lot like people in that they prefer a wide variety of foods, and places to eat. Some birds prefer sunflower seeds, some prefer safflower, some like nuts, some like mealworms, some like a feeder height of 4 ft., some won’t come to a feeder that’s close to a house, some prefer a feeder at roof level and on and on.  They’re picky aren’t they?

So if you have more than one feeder, vary the height and kinds of food used to entice the widest variety of birds. And always have native flowers and a birdbath nearby. Then see who drops in!

 

 

A life or death conundrum             Clearly, birds need to be light enough to fly. But they also need to put on energy-producing fat for a long flight like a migration.  What to do?  On average, putting on enough fat for a non-stop flight across something like the Gulf of Mexico reduces the distance a bird can fly by about half.

 

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

Are you nurturing Super Weeds?

GMO’s and RoundUp Cause Super Weeds
(And many more problems)

Think globally,  act locally

Research shows that herbicide-resistant weeds are aggressively taking hold in much of the U.S. and threaten U.S. crop production, as well as residential yards. More than half of U.S. farms are battling glyphosate resistant weeds. A survey by Stratus Ag Research shows glyphosate resistant weeds were found in 33 million acres in the U.S. in 2010. The acreage jumped to 61 million in 2012. Today, more than half of U.S. farms are battling the problem.

The toxic chemical glyphosate, the main ingredient in RoundUp and other herbicides, has been viewed as a cheap, effective way to grow weed-free plants. “But those days are over, weed resistance to glyphosate is becoming more widespread” warns Iowa State University  scientist Mike Owen.

“One of the greatest threats to yield loss and food security - on a local and global basis - is the development of herbicide-resistant weeds,” said Arlene Cotie, Bayer Crop Science. “It is a growing global problem that is changing agronomic practices and threatens the long-term viability of economical weed control and food production.”

This "super weed" problem isn't just happening on farms, it's occurring in parks and residential yards too. We hear more about it from agribusiness simply because researchers and big agricultural growers keep better records (especially year-to-year) than a typical homeowner.

“In the Midwest, we see new populations [of weeds] every season that demonstrate resistance to numerous herbicide classes,” said Aaron Hager, University of Illinois. “We find resistance is not necessarily limited to one herbicide, but in certain species we find resistance to multiple herbicides, effectively eliminating many of the options farmers would have to try to control these populations in their crops.”

“Herbicide-resistant weeds are an unconventional threat that we must fight with conventional and unconventional methods,” said Bayer’s Harry Strek. “Accumulated resistance to multiple herbicides complicates the matter. We recognize that chemicals are often only a short-term solution.”

As you see from the above quotes, the toxic chemistry industry is now acknowledging the drastic and expensive consequences of Genetically Modified Organisms and glyphosate, the key ingredient in RoundUp and other herbicides. The truth is that there are better (and often less expensive) ways to kill unwanted plants.

Where in the world did those green parrots come from?

 

Monk Parakeet

For several years, Denton has been home to groups of totally wild Monk Parakeets. They’re in several places in northeast Denton, and their range is slowly expanding to other parts of north Texas. It’s the most widespread parakeet (it's actually a parrot) in the country, and the only species that builds a large, communal nest (some weighing up to several hundred pounds). First-time viewers often think it's someone's pet that escaped. But it’s not native to the U.S., and probably escaped from a broken crate (or similar) when it was smuggled into a port somewhere (nobody knows for sure)  Actually, the only two parrot species native to this country are both extinct.

 

Pipevine Swallowtail

Yes we have no bananas       Butterflies love spoiled bananas – don’t ask me why. They also go for mushy fruit like over-ripe pears and peaches. (but don’t leave them outside too long or you may have other visitors). This is what becomes of fruit if nature takes its course – animals eat some and the rest nourishes the soil.

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

    

We need more owls around here

     North Texans are often surprised to learn that they have owls as neighbors. It's true, but there are fewer owls around than a decade ago. Our common owls range from the ±10” Screech Owl, through the mid-sized Barn Owl, to the large Great-horned Owl.

Barn Owl

Owls hunt at night, and feed on animals also active at night, including large insects and many species of rodents. An owl is one of the best rodent-control creatures on earth. One adult Barn Owl eats about 90g. of food a night – the equivalent of two rats.  A breeding pair and their chicks can eat about 3000 rats per year. Where rodents have been displaced by recent construction, owls (particularly Barn Owls) eat well.

     Unfortunately, the large, dead trees they like to nest in are frequently cut down and natural tree cavities are filled in, so good nesting sites can be hard to find.  Man-made nest boxes can help alleviate the problem. They can be put almost anywhere – even on the wall of a house. It should be in shade most of the day and, especially in Texas, shouldn’t face the hot, west sun.

Believe it or not I've been asked if owl droppings (“pellets”) carry disease. These are the undigestible bits and pieces of its prey, such as bones. According to the CDC, they transmit no known disease. Consequently there is no health reason for any preventive sanitation.

There's no 100% sure way to attract owls to your yard. Providing a good habitat, nest material and a nesting place are the best things you can do.
Since owls fly quietly at night, you may never know that they’re around, so they’re very good neighbors.

Great horned Owl (western)

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

 

Instead of raking it all up, a little plant debris attracts birds to your yard

 

Brown Thrasher

Birds like picking through plant debris

Most folks just rake it all up (dead weeds, dead leaves and twigs etc.) Among all that plant debris however, are thousands of tiny, totally harmless bugs. Many north Texas birds love to thrash and pick through this plant debris to dine on the bugs, or find nest material.
     You’ll see this behavior in most warblers, Juncos, Thrashers, the true sparrows and such – and sometimes Cardinals, Titmice and Chickadees (any bird that eats insects - which is over 90% of them). If the plant debris is totally raked up, however, they’ll quickly go elsewhere. Sure, I clean it up where it's unsightly or in the way, but I leave patches of natural debris where birds are apt to find it and go through it .                                                                           

 

A “pond” and a “wetland” aren’t the same

There once was a natural wetland in Southlake that was a favorite of birdwatchers. Birds too – around 21 species of duck visited it yearly, and many lived there. They visited the wetland because it had a natural shoreline, natural vegetation and such. A recent development filled it in (some thought it was “unsightly”) and it was replaced with a man-made pond. It held the same amount of water, but gone were the things that attracted birds, including migratory birds. This past year, just four species of duck came by (a natural wetland in a neighboring town still had throngs of birds, plus lots of birdwatchers and hikers).

 

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

Save America's only temperate rainforest from logging: theTongass National Forest

There is logging going on in one of our national forests; the Tongass National Forest in Alaska's southeastern region - at least a million acres of old-growth trees and wildlife in a totally natural environment. The activity is very questionable, but legally exploits a loophole in the law.

The Forest Service just began a program to phase out logging of the Tongass' huge, old growth trees, and the logging roads that go with them. Most of the trees are several centuries old. But the program, as proposed,  could take as long as 15 years. (a lot of damage can be done in 15  years)

The Tongass is a rare rainforest in a temperate climate. America's only one! Right now, much of the Tongass has already been logged and roaded (essentially ruined for several hundred years). Tell the National Forest Service or your congressman to speed up the program, or there may be nothing left worth saving 15 years from now.

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.