Wild Ones News
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Become a member! Memberships fuel the work of HGCNY locally, and Wild Ones, our parent organization, spreads the native plant, natural landscape message across the country. If you value the education and advocacy WO and HGCNY provide, please become a member. You can join or donate online at various levels of support.
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Facebook
Wild Ones and HGCNY are now on Facebook. Become a fan and post your comments and questions about habitat gardening in central New York. (To find HGCNY's page, search on "Habitat Gardening in Central New York" not HGCNY.)
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Designing with Native Plants Symposium
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Ithaca's 2nd Annual Designing with Native Plants Symposium will present theory and
practice to inform and inspire landscape architects, designers, land managers, horticulturists,
gardeners, and homeowners using native plants to create more sustainable landscapes.
| March 5-6 at Cornell's Lab of Ornithology
Register early for either or both days. This popular event was sold out last year!
For more information and to register...
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Greetings!
We're starting off 2010 with a program about a key issue: Invasive Species of the Northeast. We're fortunate to have an expert on the topic, Dr. Jason Fridley, as our speaker.
Dr. Fridley will talk about invasive plants generally across the
Eastern US and about why introduced plants from certain regions of the
globe seem to be particularly invasive. He'll also describe research in
his own SU lab
that focuses on invasive shrubs in forests, asking specifically whether
East Asian species are "pre-adapted" for life in
our native forest ecosystems. CNY gardeners will recognize most of the
plants he'll discuss!
WHEN: Sunday January 31 at 2:00 pm
WHERE: Le Moyne College Library Special Activity Room (Directions)
Our meetings are free and open to the public. Come and bring a friend!
Welcome to our new sponsor
We welcome Pippi's Perennials as a new sponsor and as another source of native plants in CNY. Our sponsors (see the list at the left) help defray the costs of this newsletter and also are a handy source of native plants and other products of interest to habitat gardeners. Thank you to all our sponsors!
Janet Allen, President
Habitat Gardening in Central New York
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Step back into the past for the sake of the future
Did you know that in Syracuse a Mr. or Ms. Hasbrouck saw a Nighthawk on May 12, 1886, May 13, 1886, and on May 15, 1886?
That "1886" is not a typo! So how do I know what Mr. or Ms/ Hasbrouck saw 124 years ago? I'm volunteering for The North American Bird Phenology Program to transcribe the information that this person and thousands of others collected in the late-1800s to mid-1900s. I was excited to see this particular card pop up, imagining that person so long ago right here in Syracuse taking the time to note his or her bird observation.
 Here's a sample card.
T he 6,000,000 observer cards our grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations created are pretty useless unless they're
put into digital form. In digital form, though, they're priceless. In conjunction with historical weather data, they can show how
migration is affected by climate change among other things.
This program is a project of the U.S. Geological Survey, but is largely volunteer-run. It's a project you can easily do at home when you have a spare five or ten minutes. You don't need to know anything about birds - just how to type! There's a very helpful 15-minute video on the BPP website that shows you how after you register as a volunteer.
Get connected with the past for the benefit of the future!
Here's an ABC news video describing the project.
Read more...
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NOVA Tues. Jan. 26 at 8:00 pm: The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies
This award winning film about monarch butterflies was originally released as "Four Wings and a Prayer," based on the book of the same title.
If you miss the televised showing, it's available online.
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Mark your calendars for the 13th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count: Feb. 12-15
 Like those thousands of birdwatchers long ago--some of the first "citizen scientists"--you can continue the tradition by collecting current information about birds. GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon, and it's sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited.
Last year, participants found 619 species of birds and broke two major records during the 2009 GBBC. They submitted 93,629 checklists and tallied 11,550,200 birds--a 9% increase in checklist submissions over the last record, and a new high for numbers of birds counted.
The results are important for scientists, but anyone can explore the results from any of the previous years. There are animated maps, top 10 lists, and more. Explore the results yourself!
It's one of the easiest citizen science programs around. In as little as 15 minutes during the Friday through Monday time period, you observe birds in your yard, a local park, or other locations and report what you see. You don't have to be an expert. There are identification tips on the website, but if you can't identify a bird, simply note that you're not including all the birds you saw. Your data will join thousands of other people's submissions to add to a database that becomes more valuable each year.
This video tells you all you need to know to participate, or you can just read the instructions.
Got kids? Here are some fun activities for them online. Make the GBBC an annual family tradition!
Read more...
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How do birds survive the winter?
Here are three ways (from Cornell Lab of Ornithology):* Roosting closely together with other birds. Up to ten bluebirds have been found to roost in the same tree cavity on cold nights. * Some birds, such as chickadees, can lower their body temperature at night and enter regulated hypothermia, saving significant amounts of energy. * Some birds store food and have exceptional spatial memory to relocate it, even a month later.
Learn more about how birds survive the winter... Enter the Winter  Bird Survival Challenge Contest: People of all ages can enter; Deadline Feb. 15 The Celebrate Urban Birds project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology invites you to show how birds are surviving in your neighborhood this winter. It can be a photo, artwork, video, even a story or a poem describing how birds are finding the food, water, and shelter they need. You can take part no matter what your age or skill level. Groups such as schools, libraries, clubs, and businesses are also welcome. Celebrate Urban Birds is a free, year-round citizen-science project focused on birds in neighborhood settings. Read more about this contest...
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2010: International Year of Biodiversity
"Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river
has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, only then
will you find that money cannot be eaten." ~ Cree Indian prophecy The United Nations Environment Programme has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. Their website has a Tip of the Day and other information about projects happening all over the world.  And you can help preserve biodiversity right in your own yard. Wild Ones "promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve
biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of
native plant communities" (from our mission statement). Doug Tallamy's book Bringing Nature Home explains why our landscaping choices make a difference in preserving biodiversity. HGCNY recently donated two more copies of Tallamy's book to the Onondaga County Public Library system. If you haven't read this book yet, why not check it out? It makes great winter reading!
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