 We won't have an HGCNY meeting this month, but there's still an opportunity to learn about one of the foundations of life on earth: soil. FREE VIEWING one week only!! To launch the UN's International Year of Soils, the beautiful documentary Symphony of the Soil will be available for viewing at no charge from December 5, which is World Soil Day, through December 12. Just go to the Symphony of the Soil website or to the UN Year of Soils website. Have a wonderful holiday season! Janet Allen, President
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Find a safe place for your bird feeder
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 | | Red-breasted nuthatch enjoying some peanuts |
Keep your feeder birds safe!
According to the Lab of Ornithology, ornithologists estimate that millions of birds are killed each year by hitting windows. Window strike mortality can be reduced by moving your feeders to within 3 feet of the window or greater than 30 feet away.It's obvious that placing feeders far from your windows would help, but why place them so close? Because a bird leaving the feeder cannot gain enough momentum to do harm if it strikes the window. And don't forget to consider the distance to windows of neighboring houses! Moving feeders beyond the danger zone of your windows, but into the danger zone of your neighbors' windows doesn't protect the birds. Cornell's Lab of Ornithology has more advice on the Dos and Don'ts of Feeder Placement on its citizen science blog. It also has a handy Google tool you can use to find the danger zone for your house. Provide natural food, tooAnother way to increase safety both from window strikes and disease is by providing natural food distributed throughout your yard rather than concentrating all the birds in one small area around feeders. In other words, leave the seeds from native plants rather than deadheading in the fall, as well as providing berries from native trees and bushes, such as bayberries, eastern red cedar, and winterberries.
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The joy of giving ... a bit of your time
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 | | A house wren delivering a nutritious meal to its baby |
Everyone is busy during the holidays, but a little quiet time can often keep our life in balance. Here are two ways you can not only have some quiet time, but give the gift of your time. Help Doug Tallamy's researchDo eastern bluebirds from Wisconsin, for example, have the same diet as bluebirds from Georgia? Do chipping sparrows take different insects during their first brood than they do during their second brood? No one really knows, but you can help scientists find out! Did you manage to capture some photos of birds eating insects this year or in the past? Tallamy needs photos of birds eating arthropods (i.e. spiders, insects, centipedes, mites, etc.). You can upload your photos at whatdobirdseat.com. (And if you haven't managed to capture this behavior in the past, be on the lookout when winter ends and breeding season begins.) Help digitize bird dataHelp convert to digital form the millions of records documenting bird sightings gathered by hundreds of dedicated citizen scientists from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. As the climate changes, birds have already begun to change their ranges within our lifetime. You can imagine how valuable the information about their past ranges could be! Volunteers have already digitized over one million data cards, BUT there are literally millions more to be done. By devoting a few minutes now and then, you can honor the work of these volunteers and help make this invaluable information useful to scientists. Visit the USGS/PWRC North American Bird Phenology Program to sign up.
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Ithaca Native Landscape Symposium
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March might seem far away, but if you're interested in the Early Bird registration discount (until 12/24), it's not too early to register for one or both days of the 7th Annual Ithaca Native Landscaping Symposium, which takes place Friday March 6th and Saturday March 7th. The Symposium is for landscape architects, designers, educators, Master Gardeners, government employees, homeowners, gardeners, naturalists and anyone else eager to learn more about this growing movement. Learn more and register ...
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Since HGCNY is a chapter of the national organization Wild Ones, when you become a member of Wild Ones, you're automatically a member of HGCNY, too. And since Wild Ones is an official not-for-profit, your membership is tax-deductible.
It's easy to become a member, receive the bimonthly Wild Ones Journal, and support our mission.
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As more of us participate on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hgcny, this will become a useful resource for asking (and answering!) local HGCNYers' questions about habitat gardening.
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 Visit Our Habitat Garden website for information on providing habitat, earth-friendly gardening practices, plants, and various creatures here in Central New York. |
Visit Our Edible Garden website to see an example of a local vegetable and fruit garden. An edible garden is a perfect complement to your habitat garden.
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