March

Heavy rains scale down to intermittent showers.

The thaw begins.

Plants, insects, animals wend their way up to Earth's surface.

Quickly light increases.

Happy March!

Put a Little Life in Your Lawn

Americans are so obsessed with the idea of the perfect lawn that many neighborhoods have become little more than green deserts - huge expanses of a single type of grass that are regularly treated with so many chemical pesticides and herbicides that all other life forms have been destroyed.  No wonder our honeybees are disappearing!

Lawns don't have to be barren and lifeless.  They can be rich mixes of lush, low-growing plants, from beautiful white clover and bugleweed (ajuga) to beloved flowers like violets and scarlet pimpernels and herbs like thyme and prunella, with a mix of grasses forming the backdrop. 

A mixed lawn will attract all kinds of life to your yard, from insects like butterflies and bees feeding on the abundant nectar of flowering lawn plants to toads and ladybugs looking for an insect dinner.  You'll get bonuses like fireflies (also known as lightning bugs), too, lighting up your summer nights.  The life that's drawn to your lawn will bring birds flocking, looking for bugs, seeds, and nectar.  A lawn like this is not only beautiful, it's exciting! 

Every summer I am always amazed at the level of activity in my backyard compared to my neighbors on either side.  All three of us share identical acres of land.  However, every evening I sit on my back porch and watch birds flying around my trees and skittering on the ground, squirrels spastically zooming all over the place, butterflies fluttering near my head, ducks make their way up on a nearby slope from the river and head to my yard where they always stay to feed, occasionally a rabbit stops by (or I get surprised by deer), and at dusk, fireflies are everywhere!  It's a regular nature show, and I try to always tune in.  When I look out at my neighbor's yards - or I'm in their yards visiting - it's lifeless.  My yard is like a vortex into another world, a world full of life. 

Many people think of a mixed lawn as an overgrown, weedy mess.  But that is dead wrong: A lawn like this will thrive when it's kept mowed, just like an ordinary lawn.  You may have heard that lawns do best when you set the mower higher than you may have learned to do, since even conventional lawn grass is healthier and grows best when its roots are shaded.  The same is true of a mixed lawn: Raise the mower blade to 3 inches for the health of your lawn.  And as with a conventional, all-grass lawn, you should always leave the clippings to fertilize your mixed lawn.  I am always amazed when I see my neighbors bag and throw out their grass clippings, then dump chemical fertilizers on their lawns to replace the lost nutrients.  What are they thinking?!

Finally, I leave you with a thought: If all the pesticides people dump on their lawns are killing "pests," what are they doing to your pets, kids, friends and relatives, and you - not to mention birds, butterflies, and other wildlife?  If you encourage a mixed lawn of beautiful (and often useful) plants, nature will take care of any "pests" without additional help from you.  Your lawn will look lush and inviting.  You can watch your kids run barefoot across the lawn with the puppy without wondering, "How long has it been since the lawn service sprayed?"  And you'll be rewarded with a wealth of birdlife. 

Just think - you're actualy gaining all these benefits from not doing extra work or going to extra expense.  How great is that?


Humans vs. nature's habitats.

Five Fast Ways to Attract Birds

Planting bird-friendly trees and shrubs or installing an in-ground water garden with features designed to bring in the birds can take time to produce the desired results.  But there are plenty of quick - and inexpensive - things you can do to put out the welcome mat almost instantly.  Jump in right now and see how you can boost the bird population in your yard or space with these five fast ways to attract birds:

1. Hang a tube feeder.

Tube feeders are available at bird specialty stores (Wild Birds Unlimited, Wild Bird Center, etc.), hardware and farm supply stores, and home centers, as well as many pet stores and, at least seasonally, at discount retailers (Walmart, Target, etc.).  Get one to start, along with a supply of sunflower seed to fill it.  Black oil sunflower attracts the greatest variety of birds, but any sort of sunflower seed will draw birds to the tube.  If your new tube feeder will hang in a place where cast-off sunflower hulls may pose a problem, avoid the mess by filling it up with shelled, or hulled, sunflower seeds. 

2. Set out water.

Water features for birds can be elaborate or they can be very simple.  If you have a casserole or shallow bowl that you've never liked, you can donate it to the birds, and do a good deed while getting rid of something you've always hated at the same time.  Set it out, fill it with water, add a few pebbles to help the birds find a perch, and voila!

3.  Grow a nectar plant.

Columbines, trumpet vine, cleome (spiderflower), impatiens, nasturtiums, annual red salvia, cardinal flower, rose-of-Sharon, snapdragons, coral honeysuckle (what I grow), cannas, bee balm (monarda), zinnias, and many other nectar rich plants are especially good hummingbird attractors.  Add a few of these hummingbird flowers to your garden - or to a container to two on your deck or patio - and see how many hummingbirds you can bring in. 

4.  Add a hummingbird feeder.

From the ruby-throated hummingbird on the East Coast to the many species in Texas, the Southwest, and the West Coast, it's easy to attract these flying jewels to your yard if you set up a nectar feeder.  You can buy ones ranging from standard plasic feeders to handcrafted glass and ceramic versions, or make your own from recycled soda bottles. 

5.  Set out some fruit.

Half an orange, apple slices, a piece of melon, an overripe peach, a handful of berries - birds love fruit as much as we do.  Set some out on a plate (a plastic plate or even a piece of cardboard is fine) and watch the birds and butterflies come over for dessert!  You can also attract orioles by hanging half an orange from an oriole or fruit feeder, readily available in bird specialty stores.  (Some feeders even come with cups for jelly as well as hooks for fruit!).  Or make your own: Pierce the rind of an orange half by running a skewer through the fruit parallel to the cut side.  Then make a hanger from a length of twine, knotting it securely on each end of the skewer.  Hang the skewered fruit from a branch or hook.

National Bird Feeding Month.

Bird feeding leads to bird conservation.

Quirks of the backyard bird.

Put a little life in your lawn.

Quirks of the Backyard Bird

When you're feeding your birds this month, and the rest of the year, here are some fascinating and interesting things to look for.  These are some of the birds in my backyard that are on the National Bird-Feeding Society's "America's Top Ten Backyard Birds."

American Goldfinch

The plumage gradually brightens from late winter to late summer.  Watch for it to turn bright yellow. 

Black-capped Chickadee

Put some natural objects near your bird feeders, such as strips of bark, plant galls, unusual seeds, nuts, or berries.  Watch what the chickadees do.  They'll actively examine, investigate, and probe the objects.  Also watch for chickadees feeding upside down to reach insects and their larvae. 

Downy Woodpecker

Listen closely to find out where the Downy Woodpecker's hammering is coming from.  Look high in trees and search the dead parts to see the downy's small form, parallel to the tree trunk. 

Northern Cardinal

Male cardinals often tap fiercely at windows of houses.  They see their reflection and think it's a competitor.  If it's annoying, try soaping the window until the males get busy with hatched young. 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

In spring and summer, watch for the "pendulum display" of the male Ruby-throat: He flies back and forth in a long arc of about 50 feet, like a clock pendulum, while the female sits and watches. 

White-breasted Nuthatch

This famous upside-down bird is a little acrobat and a familiar sight around backyard feeders.  Look at the size of a nuthatch's feet.  They're larger for their bodies than the average bird's feet.  They help with hopping and clinging to the underside of branches and limbs. 

Find out what other interesting things your backyard birds are up to.

Happy Bird-Feeding and Watching!

National Bird Feeding Month

"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag."

February is National Bird Feeding Month.

This national event was created by the National Bird Feeding Society to advance and publicize the wild bird feeding and watching hobby.  There's a new theme each year.  The 2011 theme is "Most Wanted - Americas Top Ten Backyard Birds." 

Ok, so you're not being asked to hang out with Mary Poppins and spend your tuppence on increasing the pigeon population in downtown London.  (Though that does sound pretty awesome!)  But I am encouraging you to pick up bird-feeding as a new hobby this month.  I know you're busy, but this is minimum effort and maximum delight and pay-off. 

Why February?

February has been identified as one of the most difficult months for wild birds in the US.  During this month, individuals are encouraged to provide food, water, and shelter to help wild birds survive.  This assistance benefits the environment by supplementing wild bird's natural diet of weed seeds and insects. 

I thought all birds went south for the winter.

Most, but not all, birds migrate south for the winter.  And when they do, you could possibly live in their southern territory.  Take the herring gull, for example.  It's year-round range is Canada, and it can be seen migrating only as far as the Alaskan coastline for winter.  And the Purple Finch is known to spend it's winters in Minneapolis and Buffalo. 

Here's the percentage of the world's birds that are endangered:

76% = Birds that are not threatened, reasonably safe, stable.
16% = Proven to be endangered or threatened, vulnerable
8% = Critical or entirely dependent on conservation.

The well-being of one species, no matter how small, can have a significant impact on the well-being of many others.  It makes good global sense to pay attention to how birds are thriving, both close to home and around the world. 

So, what's causing the problem?

One hundred years ago, the main threats to birds in the United States were over-hunting and clearing of forests. Now habitat loss is the main reason bird species are endangered.  States like Massachusetts, once cleared for farms, are now mostly forested.  The remaining farmland is being sold for house construction as the population spreads out.  Because of these trends, many grassland birds - species that require fields, meadows, and other grassy places - are endangered in Massachusetts and other eastern states. 

And habitat isn't being lost only in North America.  Birds that migrate to the south face habitat loss on their wintering grounds.  Migrating birds need forests and other habitats in Central and South America, which are disappearing at a rapid rate. 

Birds and Biodiversity

There are between 9500 and 10,000 species of birds worldwide.  Why is it important that there are so many bird species in the world?  Does it really matter?  Will it change your bird-watching experience? 

The Big Picture

If you're like me, you care about nature and want to understand how the many species on earth depend on each other.  We're concerned about maintaining biodiversity, the dazzling variety of life on earth.  That variety includes all species and habitats combined, and every little piece is a priceless part of the whole picture.  As human activities destroy habitat and change climate, some of the earth's species may be lost before we even discover that they exist.  And when a species is lost, near you or far away, other species can be affected.

The Power of One

But what can a single person do to help preserve biodiversity? 

More than you think!  Even one person feeding, studying, enjoying, and understanding just one species can make a difference.  Feeding the birds around you will make you a better citizen of the earth, and a better friend to all life. 

"Early each day to the steps of St. Paul's,

the little old bird woman comes...

In her own special way to the people she calls,

come buy my bags full of crumbs.

Come feed the little birds, show them you care,

and you'll be glad if you do.

Their young ones are hungry, their nests are so bare;

all it takes is tuppence from you.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.

Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag.

Feed the birds, that's what she cries,

while overhead her birds fill the skies.

All around the cathedral the saints and apostles look down as she sells her wares.

Although you can't see it, you know they are smiling each time someone shows that he cares.

Though her words are simple and few,

listen, listen, she's calling to you.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.

Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag.

Though her words are simple and few,

listen, listen, she's calling to you.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.

Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag."

- "Mary Poppins."

February

Sleet.

Animals huddle, shiver, or withdraw into near-death sleep to survive the year's lowest temperatures.

Snow covers half the land.

Lengthening light liquifies ice.

Just a reminder of how beautiful February can be. 

How to see the Milky Way

This looks exactly like the place where I regularly put in my kayak.  It's a still winter night, the mouth of the river is off to the right leading into a larger body of water.  The glow of a nearby town only slightly illuminating the horizon behind the evergreens.  No other lights around which creates a night free of light pollution.  And the Milky Way looms above like a massive space creature. 

The winter sky is filled with bright stars.  In fact, seven of the twelve brightest stars visible from Earth (not counting the Sun) shine in winter.  It is one of the best times to star-gaze. 

This band on the sky is the profile of our spiral galaxy seen edge-on from inside it. 

It's a picture by Dan Stodola, and it could be a picture of where I live.  But, sadly, it's not.  I have never seen the Milky Way from my home.  There is just too much light pollution. 

Perhaps two-thirds of the world's population can no longer look upward at night and see this amazing sight.

The Milky Way is dimming as a result of light pollution: the inadvertent illumination of the atmosphere from street lights, outdoor advertising, homes, schools, airports and other sources.  Every night billions of bulbs send their energy skyward where microscopic bits of matter - air molecules, airborne dust, and water vapor droplets - reflect much of the wasted light back to Earth.  Currently, the only way to view the Milky Way with the naked eye is to be about 100 miles from the nearest metropolitan area, or to be around low light pollution. 

Comparison showing the effects of light pollution on viewing the sky at night. The southern sky featring Sagittarius and Scorpius. Top image shows the sky from Leamington, Utah (population 217). Bottom image shows Orem, Utah (a metropolitan area with a population of around 400,000).

There are three types of light pollution:

1. Sky Glow - The orange glow seen over towns caused by upwardly directed or reflected light. 
2. Light Trespass - Any light shining where it is not needed.
3. Dazzle - Excessively bright and misdirected light.

All three can be eradicated using capped lights that do not shine upwards into the sky.  We need lighting to guide us after dark and for safety, but we do not need light that shines upwards into night skies. 

In recent years engineers have developed more efficient bulbs with "sky friendly" fixtures that can preserve dark skies and decrease energy costs.  Here's an example of "good" vs "bad":

GOOD - Post-top ornamental fixtures can minimize light pollution via a lamp reflector located above the bulb. 

BAD - Non-cutoff fixtures like this "acorn" ornamental lamp causes light pollution.

GOOD - Flat-lens cobra head fixtures provide excellent roadway lighting with greatly reduced glare and no uplight. 

BAD - The ubiquitious drop-lens cobra head luminaire produces a level of glare and uplight that is both unacceptable and unnecessary. 

I can still see Orion from home because it's one of the brightest constellations.  But even brilliant Orion will eventually fade if poorly-designed lights proliferate. 

It's a big loss, too.  Young sky watchers (like myself years ago) grow up to be scientists, explorers, poets, philosophers, and school teachers.  But kids aren't likely to watch or be inspired by... a blank sky. 

The point of raising awareness of light pollution is that it touches many areas of people's lives, from simply not being able to see the natural heritage of a starry night sky to affecting the habits of animals, energy consumption, economic resources, and astronomical research. 

This image of Earth's city lights was created with data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operationsl Linescan System (OLS).  Originally designed to view clouds by moonlight, the OLS is also used to map the locations of permanent lights on the Earth's surface.  If you're like me, you can easily pin-point where you live and notice that it's surrounded by bright lights.

The Milky Way's visibility, or lack of it, is the easiest measure of your sky's light pollution - the glow from all the poorly designed and improperly aimed outdoor light fixtures for dozens of miles around.  If they illuminated only the ground as their installers intended, rather than wasting some of their light uselessly sideways and upward, we could not only save many megawatts of electricity, but the world's view of the starry universe would be vastly improved.

The best way to avoid light pollution is to turn off exterior lights.  However, there are times at which you'll need some lighting outside at night.  Turning on the flood lights when you leave for a night out so you'll be able to see your way to the door when you come home is not only a waste of energy, but doing so can be an annoyance to your neighbors as your lights fill the night sky and their lawn with unwanted bright light. 

Motion Detector Lights



Avoid this problem by insatlling motion detector lights on the exterior of your home.  You can still turn on the ligts when you leave for the evening, but they will only come on when the motion detector picks up movement in the driveway or around the house.  When your car pulls into the driveway, for example, the lights will come on long enough for you to get inside.  In additon, these lights are a good security measure to deter intruders.  Just make sure you get the ones that face downward and not out. 

Landscape Lighting



Landscape lighting is subtle and adds to the beauty of the walkways around your home.  These inexpensive lights are also likely to be energy efficient.  Many of these types are solar powered, storing energy from the day's sunlight to power them. 

Dome-covered Lights

If your home's exterior must have several lights that stay on for extended periods in the evening, investing in domed fixtures to cut down on the light pollution is a good idea.  Since light rays go out in every direction from the source, blocking their path with a dome on top of the bulbs will prevent much of the light from shining into the sky.  The domes may actually intensify these lights (especially if they are mirrored inside) and cause ground lighting to be brighter (which allows you to use a lower wattage bulb, therefore less energy used), but the sky will be much darker having them in place. 

If we could all be responsible with our use of exterior lights - from our homes and businesses to the street lights from the Department of Transportation - anyone in the world be able to just step outside at night and be greeted with the glorious vision of our Milky Way.

The fact that it also saves energy is a win/win situation. 

Photo: Larry Landolfi http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071020.html

Price of One Hamburger Revisited

I have recently been under fire about a popular post that I wrote titled "The True Price of One Hamburger."  Particularly the part where I mention: "It takes 2500 gallons of water to produce one pound of hamburger."  Some people apparently do not believe this.  As a matter of fact, I was told to "check my math" because that amount of water would obviously be for tons of beef!

So, I checked my math. 

But I didn't do it alone.  I backed up my research with several other environmental professionals:
John Robbins - founder of EarthSave.
David Pimentel - Professor of Ecology and Agricultural Science at Cornell University.
Laura Westra - Professor of Environmental Studies at Sarah Lawrence College.
Reed Noss - President of the Society for Conservation Biology.

And we all agreed that I was wrong!  It does not take 2500 gallons of water to produce one pound of hamburger....

It takes 12,009 GALLONS to produce one pound of beef!  Here's the breakdown:

Potatoes  60 gallons/pound

Wheat  108 gallons/pound

Corn  168 gallons/pound

Rice  229 gallons/pound

Soybeans  240 gallons/pound

Beef  12,009 gallons/pound

Please note that the figures for producing a pound of beef represent water used over a 2+ year period, as food cattle are generally slaughtered before they are 2-years-old.  Dairy cattle may live 4 years before being turned into burgers, and range cattle live to 5 or 6. 

As is clearly illustrated by these figures, it takes roughly 200 times the water to grow a pound of beef than to grow a pound of potatoes. 

Professor Pimentel explained it best, "The data we had indicated that a beef animal consumed 100kg of hay and 4kg of grain per 1kg of beef produced.  Using the basic rule that it takes about 1000 liters of water to produce 1kg of hay and grain, thus about 100,000 liters were required to produce the 1 kg of beef." 

According to the USDA, one pound of ground lean beef has 1197.5 calories and one pound of potatoes contains 288 calories.  To get roughly the same number of calories from potatoes as you do from a pound of beef, you would need 4.15 pound of potatoes.  So that's 249 gallons of water for 4.15 pounds of potatoes versus 12,009 gallons of water for the pound of beef - in order to produce the same number of calories.  In short, it takes nearly 50 times more waer to produce a calorie from beef than it does from potatoes. 

So, now that I have "checked my math"...

Is raising cattle for beef an efficient and fair way to feed the world?

An Annual Phenomenon - The Winter Shed

Caribou and moose shed their antlers every year.  Among the fastest growing organs in the animal kingdom, the antlers can reach a span of six feet (1.8 meters) in roughly three months.  They regrow their antlers each spring after dropping them in winter to conserve energy. 

How to get hugged by a polar bear.

I just recently saw this Nissan commercial.  I love it!  Check it out.  And if you've already seen it... watch it again!



And to put a smile on your face for the rest of your day - here is another cute must see video.  (I couldn't leave it out.)

Quadrantids

My daughter sent me this pic of the 2011 Quadrantids.  I missed them. :(  She and I have had a tradition of standing outside in the early morning hours, freezing, and staring upwards for hours.  We dress warm and hold onto each other.  And, when we see one we jump up and down with excitement.  It keeps us warm and happy.  Sharing the joys of our natural world is an amazing way to spend quality time with the ones you love.

Frozen Sea

This video of the frozen Baltic Sea was shot around Rzucewo, Poland last January.  I don't know what depth it was frozen... just that it felt solid.  The ice was cracked and re-frozen in a number of places and there was a small layer of snow on top, 15 centimeters or less.  There was evidence that someone had ridden at least one ATV vehicle on the ice in the last few weeks.  The temperature in thes video is around -15C and, with windchill, felt like about -22C.  Because the Baltic's salinity levels are quite low it is easier for it to freeze than other seas or oceans but still takes colder and more sustained cold temperatures fo it to freeze than bodies of fresh water. 
camera man: Murray Henson.
Thanks for sharing Murray.