Your participation in the Great Backyard Bird Count Friday through Monday February 18-21 is one piece of the puzzle that helps scientists get the big picture about changes in bird populations.
Last year, people submitted 97,300 checklists, and they're aiming for more than 100,000 this year. The information is used to compare how bird populations may be changing. The event is fun, free, and requires no registration.
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 | | Pussy willow (Salix discolor) |
Ten Best Woody Plants
HGCNYers know that native plants are best for wildlife, but some native plants benefit wildlife more than others.
Carole Brown of Ecosystem Gardening lists the ten best woody plants and the top 10 herbaceous plants for your habitat garden. She also notes some of the lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) that use these plants and gives some other tips.
The top three of the top ten woodies:
Quercus (oaks), Prunus (cherries and plums), and Salix (willows) top the list. Remember when choosing any plant to use the whole botanical name, genus and species.
To be most valuable for wildlife make sure you choose a native species. For example, even some familiar plants such as the weeping willow (Salix � sepulcralis) are NOT native. Pussy willow, on the other hand, is a native Salix (S. discolor).
Bonus: If you bring pussy willows inside to force, keep them in water and they'll grow roots for a new shrub you can plant yourself or give away.
The top three of the top ten herbaceous:
Goldenrod (Solidago), aster (Aster), and sunflower (Helianthus) are top choices.
Bonus: If you plant the cultivar 'Lemon Queen' (H. annuus), an annual sunflower, you'll be all set to participate in the Great Sunflower Project, an interesting citizen science project that will help assess our nation's bee population.
Check the Ecosystem Gardening (links above) to find out what the other Top Ten plants are. |
 Top 9 Squirrel Interventions
1) Baffles: Using paint can lids, CDs etc.
2) Elevation: Putting feeders up high or even on a retractable clothesline.
3) Isolation: Hanging feeders far from trees or other jumping-off locations.
4) Lubrication: Greasing feeder poles. The Lab does NOT recommend this method! If birds get into the grease, it impairs their waterproofing and insulation.
5) Combinination: Using many tactics together.
6) Altercation: Having large dogs in the yard. The Lab notes that even though cats may scare squirrels away, too, cats themselves are a major threat to birds.
7) Innovation: Feeders with built-in baffles, counterweighted tray doors etc. (They report, though, that squirrels can be equally as innovative.)
8) Separation: Set aside a separate feeder for squirrels and another for birds.
9) Capitulation: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em and feed them both.
The Lab has more helpful ideas about squirrels and other problems. They also have a free .pdf file you can download specifically about squirrels on that page.
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