Summer is the perfect time to outfit your existing bath with a mister, dripper or fountain, buy a brand new bath or add an exciting water feature to your landscape.

Water wisdom: Hot topic in the summer heat.

� Birds don't bathe for fun - they bathe to keep feathers in top flight condition. This is essential in order for them to flee from predators.

� Keep your bird bath clean! It's healthier for birds and reduces potential spread of disease. We suggest you scrub your bath every other day with a brush and a solution of one part bleach to 10 parts water. Or purchase convenient bottles of ready-made cleaning solution.

� Active, moving water is a magnet for birds! You'll entice a wider variety of species when you add a mister, dripper or fountain to your bath. It's easy and inexpensive to convert your existing bath into a "water park" for the birds.

Mike and Sharon Dunn - Duncraft Feeders

Regardless of how sophisticated you may choose to get, here are some additional birdbath tips provided by renouned Birding expert Scott Shalaway reprinted from a Windstar Institute article:

� Keep a bath at least 15 ft. from any feeders. Seed hulls and droppings soil water rapidly.

� Keep the water no more than two inches deep. This is not a problem with most saucer- style baths, but if you install a small pool or pond, pile a stack of rocks to make one end shallow enough for small birds to bathe.

� Place the bath in open shade. It should be shaded between noon and 4 p.m. so the water doesn't get too hot. Overhead cover also provides safe haven when a cat or bird-eating hawk enters the area.

Come in and see us at the store for your water needs. We have many simple solutions when it comes to water to help your property become more wildlife friendly.

The 2005 Dove Race for Youth, which raised $5,000 for the Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Foundation and The Greater Littleton Youth Initiative, took place on May 14th.

The doves (homing pigeons) were released from the Jefferson Village Shopping Center. Two hundred local individuals and businesses sponsored individual doves with their charitable contributions. The race was conducted in two divisions, one division for the general public (people's division) and one for local business owners (corporate division.). Sponsors "competed" for prizes donated by many local businesses. The 200 doves immediately raced back to their lofts in Arvada where the winners were tabulated.

A check for $1,200 was presented to The Greater Littleton Youth Initiative on June 10th at a small ceremony held at the South Metro Chamber of Commerce quarterly meeting.

A check for $4,000 was presented to The Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Foundation on July 11th at a small ceremony at Q's Pub & Grill. The funds were enough to provide scholarships for two worthy individuals at Denver's Metro State University.

Congratulations to the following (peoples division) winners!

1st Place: Taylor Forst of Littleton

• Taylor won a pair of 8x42 Binoculars from Audubon Binoculars.

2nd Place: Ryan Fograrty of Littleton

• Ryan won a signed copy of John Fielder's book Mountain Ranges of Colorado.

3rd Place: Renee Howell of Centennial.

• Renee won a beautiful etched wine glass set by local artist P. J. Lenorovitz of Blue Heron Studio

Congratulations to the following (corporate division) winning local companies!

• 1st Place: Q's Pub and Grill
• 2nd Place: 1st Bank of Colorado
• 3rd Place: Deer Creek Animal Hospital

Joining The Front Range Birding Company and White Birds Unlimited, Inc in the fund raising event was the entire Student Senate at the Collegiate Academy Charter School in Littleton. These outstanding students were instrumental in helping raise the funds for the two charities.

The "dove race" supports both The Greater Littleton Youth Initiative and The Jason Dahl Scholarship Foundation. These two charities were birthed because of the far-reaching tragic events - Columbine High School in 1999, and the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001.

We give our most humble thanks to the Sheltered Wings Company, John Fielder and Westcliffe Publishers, Blue Heron Studio and the many other companies that provided prizes for race sponsors.

White Birds Unlimited, an Arvada company, provided the 200 white homing pigeons for people to sponsor.

Three members of the Mile High Girl Scout Council have taken over the monitoring duties of the FRBC Bluebird Trail. Actually, our trail is part of the Ken- Caryl Valley trail that local residents monitor as they help assist Park Rangers tabulating nest box data. These "citizen scientists" are joining the Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientists to study and conserve North American cavity-nesting birds.

The volunteer scouts are Girl Scout Juliettes working on their Girl Scout Silver Award. At last report, on the first of July, one of their boxes contained three baby Tree Swallows just about to fledge. Ken-Caryl Rangers also report success with both Tree Swallow and Mountain Bluebird nests in many valley boxes. It seems to be a good breeding year so far.

Together, with Lab researchers, you could become a citizen scientist as well. Check out the many hands on programs the Cornell Lab has to offer. Call them at (800) 843-2473(BIRD) or on the web at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/.

Birds of Colorado Field Guide by Stan Tekiela.This field guide is a perfect book for a beginner birdwatcher or anyone with a backyard bird feeder. A lot of our customers come in looking for an easy to use bird guide, and when it comes to Colorado birds, this book has everything.

With many guides I have used, you end up flipping through the entire book until you find a bird that might look like what you saw. Then you look at all the information listed and end up being even more confused. The Birds of Colorado Field Guide makes it easy to find just the bird you are looking for. The pictures are large, detailed color photographs. The birds are organized by color, so if the bird had any obvious color you have a good starting place. If you find a picture that looks correct, you can read the compare section to look up other similar looking birds.

For each species, the book gives information like size, nesting habits, and favorite foods. Each bird also has interesting notes and "gee-whiz" facts. The book contains 130 species found in Colorado, and shows males and females which can often look quite different.

For the first time birder or anyone new to Colorado, I highly recommend this easy to use field guide. We also have a large collection of other field guides, such as guides by National Audubon, Sibley, and Petersons, if this guide is not what you are looking for.