International Dark Sky Week

Once a source of wonder - and one half of the entire planet's natural environment - the star-filled nights of just a few years ago are vanishing in a yellow haze. 

Human produced light pollution not only inhibits our view of the stars; poor lighting threatens astronomy, disrupts ecosystems, affects human circadian rhythms, and wastes energy to the tune of $2.2 billion per year in the U.S. alone. 

One way astronomy is affected:

Unshielded lights send their light in all directions, including straight up.  This sets the sky aglow, in much the same way that the sun sets the sky aglow during the day.  Now, the sky does not glow as bright at night as it does during the day, but the increase in sky glow caused by cities is enough to make it difficult to see dim objects in the sky... and it's getting worse.

One way ecosystems are affected:

Newly hatched turtles need a dark night sky to orient themselves toward the sea, but artificial lights behind beaches lure them away.  Hatchlings are attracted to lights and crawl inland, or crawl aimlessly down the beach, sometimes until dawn, when terrestrial predators or birds get them. 

One way humans are affected:

Light tresspass has been implicated in disruption of the human (and animal) circadian rhythm, and strongly suspected as the cause of suppressed melatonin production, depressed immune systems, and increase in cancer rates such as breast cancer. 

Making a difference -

In 2003, Jennifer Barlow, a sophomore from Midlothian, VA, founded a grassroots effort called National Dark Sky Week "because I want people to be able to see the wonder of the night sky without the effects of light pollution.  The universe is our view into our past and our vision into the future.  With National Dark Sky Week, I want to help preserve its wonder."
It has been endorsed by the International Dark Sky Association, American Astronomical Society, Astronomical League, and Sky and Telescope, and now goes by the title of International Dark Sky Week.

The most important goal is that we once again may be able to see the wonder of the universe that has been a treasured part of history as long as humans have existed on this Earth, and that we do not allow such beauty to fade behind a blanket of light pollution.


The opportunity to experience the natural night sky should be available to everyone.  This natural resource, which inspires our attempts to understand the cosmos, should be protected through the use of well-designed lighting systems that put light where it is needed and not waste energy through unnecessary illumination of the sky.  Properly designed lighting systems provide safety and convenience without polluting one of our greatest natural assets. 

It is so important that International Dark Sky Week gains more and more support each year to ensure its success.  The only way to reduce light pollution is if everyone participates.

Ideas for participation:

1. Evaluate your lighting needs and extinguish all unnecessary lighting in or around your property.  If lights are necessary (for safety or visibility) do not turn them off.
2. Blog about it.  Or write a letter to your local news source to increase publicity.
3. Encourage your friends and neighbors to permanently reduce the use of non-essential lighting.  Purchase and install a dark sky friendly lighting fixture for yourself or a neighbor.  Or talk to your local supplier about carrying a selection of these fixtures.
4. If your an educator, teach students about the night sky and light pollution.  Kids can find ways to understand and improve the issue by participating in activities such as a star count or a home audit. 
5. Host a observing event this weekend, such as a family/neighborhood backyard stargazing party, picnic, BBQ, or sidewalk astronomy.
6. Spread the news to everyone you know and encourage them to turn off their unneccesary lights.
7. Whatever you do, and however you participate, have fun and enjoy the night sky. 

How to see the Milky Way.

The night sky has been forgotten by many. I hope that International Dark Sky Week will encourage you to "look up" and appreciate its wondrous features... And not just nights this week, but on any night. 

Hallmark Sells Frogs?

My daughter's birthday was last week, and she received a gift from a friend of mine (who meant well) that rocked our world... and not in a good way.  But we created a happy, rescue situation regardless.  Here's what happened:

Anyone who knows my daughter knows she loves animals.  Which is why she usually receives something revolving around this theme whenever any gift-giving time comes around.  Sometimes it's an adoption certificate (ASPCA, WWF, etc.), a stuffed animal, a real animal, or all the above.  This birthday was an aquatic one.  She received (among other things) a new betta fish from me, and from my friend (again bless her heart, she didn't know what she was doing)...

two African Dwarf Frogs inside a tiny, 1/3 of a gallon plastic prison from Hallmark.

"Hallmark sells frogs?"  Sure enough there was a Hallmark sticker still on the side of the tank.  To be honest my response was "how cute are these guys?", but my daughter gasped and stood transfixed.  My friend and I thought she was in awe.  She wasn't.  "This is so bad!" ( Luckily this reaction didn't phase my friend.)

Now, I'm no herpitologist, but I do work with amphibians and reptiles (the local ones only, obviously) more often than most people do.   And, as a Naturalist, I should've known immediately that this little "habitat" was wrong - like my daughter did.   But this was the last gift my girl opened, and I was caught up in all the "birthday cheer" of the day.

We took a field trip to the local Hallmark.  Several of these aquariums were perched on top of a shelf and sold with picture frames and pretty paper weights (which is what I think this is supposed to be, sadly enough).  They are called "EcoAquariums" and they are made by a company called Wild Creations.  When we started to ask the clerk questions, she said they just got them in 4 days ago and had only just fed them for the first time.  It was pretty busy in there, and I didn't want to be confrontational until I knew more. 

According to the "literature" that came with the frogs:

• The frogs, the aquarium plant, and the gravel "work in harmony to create a completely filter-free ecosystem habitat."
• "Your 'EcoAquarium' will clean and condition itself with very little additonal care."
• Feeding: "2 pellets per frog, 2 times per week" using the frog pellets that came with them.
• "Change the aquarium water every 3 months" using "room temperature spring water."
• "Keep water at room temperature, 68-84F/20-29C."
• The life of the frog is "guaranteed for one year."

That sounded like a bunch of baloney to me.  So I called the experts on exotic frogs:  Fauna in New York.  I described the "EcoAquarium" and here's what they had to say:

• First, "Hallmark sells frogs?"  Then...
• Each frog needs a minimum space of 1 gallon.  So, since there's 2, a minimum of 2 gallons is needed.  (They were actually pretty pissed at the fact that there were two fogs in this tiny cube.  One of them said, "There's 2 of them in there?  Oh, that really makes me mad!"). 
• There's no such thing as a "filter-free" aquarium. Yes, the gravel does help their environment, but it does not keep it clean... especially such a tiny space. The larger the tank, the easier it is to keep clean.  They need a filter.
• They should be fed at least 3 times per week and with a diverse diet.  Pellets alone are not going to keep them healthy.  They suggested alternating the pellets with frozen blood worms. 
• Partial water changes should be weekly, not once every 3 months!
• Using spring water is okay, but it's too soft.  The best water to use is to completely dechlorinate regular tap water. 
• These are tropical creatures.  And like tropical fish, they need a heater.  Water temperature is always slightly cooler than the air temperature.  So, if your home is set at the minimum 68F/20C, then the water wouldn't be warm enough.  And actually, the frogs need to be in a temperature of about 77F/25C. 
• They need some place to hide.  These are timid creatures, and being kept out in the open without something to crawl under or into will stress them out. 
• The average life span in the wild is 15 years.  The average life span in captivity is 5 years.  Hallmark guarantees the life of the frogs for one year!!  The way the frogs are being kept in these "EcoAquariums"... they will only last one year... if they're lucky. 

"So I guess you will want to return them?" 

An obvious first question my friend asked my daughter.  But, No.  If we return them, someone else will buy them, keep them in their cold, filthy prison and they will die.  My daughter's decision - which I support 100% - is to give them a better home.  I spent every bit of my free time this past week making sure I was doing everything I could to make sure these frogs have the best - and longest - possible life from now on.  And in eveything I did, I called/emailed Fauna and/or spoke to the aquarium specialists at my local pet store.  FYI - In case you were wondering, you cannot set these guys free as they are NOT part of your ecosystem (unless you live in the Congo region of Africa). 

But we won't be shopping at Hallmark while these torture devices are still being sold. 

Naturally we never would have bought something like this.  And if I had seen this at Hallmark myself I still would've done some research, made some phone calls, emails, letters, created a blog post, etc.  The post, however, would've been different, but with the same message:

Wild Creations PROMOTES cruelty to animals!

Before Hallmark, there was Brookstone...

After 18 months of protests, thousands of calls and emails, and appearances outside Brookstone stores by a guy in a giant frog costume, Brookstone had finally decided to pull a product they called the "Frog-O-Sphere" (also from Wild Creations) from its shelves. 

PETA started campaigning against the tiny plastic frog prisons after receiving complaints from Brookstone customers and after a whistleblower reported that frogs housed in the tiny 4in.H x4in.W x4in.D plastic boxes were neglected, deprived of veterinary care and adequate food, and kept in filthy water.  The whistleblower told PETA that when frogs became obviously ill and "unsaleable," they were moved to the store's storage rooms, where they wasted away and died. 

PETA's undercover investigation of Wild Creations revealed filthy conditions and deadly neglect.  In some cases, frogs were so hungry that they chewed each other's legs off.  In some other cases, 37 out of 40 frogs died in shipment to the stores after they were left in a container so long that they suffered from heat prostration. 

Now Hallmark is selling them.  Please, please tell Hallmark to stop selling them!
call:  1-800-425-5627
mail:  Hallmark Customer Service, P.O. Box 419034, Mail Drop 216, Kansas City, MO, 64141 US.
No email address is available that I can find.  If you have/know it, please let me know. 

And tell Wild Creations that it's an idiotic idea to throw 2 frogs and some gravel into a container smaller than a shoebox and leave them there their entire lives!
email:  info@wildcreations.com
call:  (843) 448-8880
fax:  (843) 448-8988
mail:  Wild Creations, 1560 Pine Island Rd. unit C, Myrtle Beach, SC, 29577 US.

And now I give you Tom and Jerry in their clean, warm, 3-gallon tank with juicy blood worms in their bellies and a castle fit for a king to hide in!

The boys will be given more room in the near future.  This is what we had on hand, and they're doing fine.    We just wanted them to live happily ever after ASAP.  

Note:

If you already are the owner of an EcoAquarium or a Frog-O-Sphere, please give them a better home, but first, get professional advice from your local pet store or contact Fauna.  Do Not transplant them without knowing what you are doing.  And DO NOT leave them where they are! 

The lives of these helpless froggies are depending on you. 

 

 

Download PETA's free app.

Here Comes The Sun, cont.

In my nostalgia for summers past and anticipation of summers to come, I think of swimming, kayaking, basking in the sun while wiggling my toes into warm sand at the beach, and reveling in the sights, sounds, and smells of flowers, bees, and birds. 

For me, summer used to begin on the first day of school vacation, the season of long days.  But a more universal, and just as specific, beginning of summer (in the northern hemisphere) is the vernal (spring) equinox ("equal night"), when the night and day are the same length. 

Members of many species, myself included, become more alive again at this first "scent" of summer.  Skunks come out of their dens, and we get the first whiffs of their presence.  Chipmunks emerge from underground and leave their first tracks on the softening snow.  The yearling beavers leave their dens as their parents get ready to have new pups. 

Flower buds of the willows, alder, beaked hazel, poplars, and elms are poised to respond to the first warmth, to open and reveal their beautiful colors and varied forms. 

Some of the birds that overwintered begin to sing, and the migrant birds are plying the skies by the millions on their way north from the tropics.  The first are starting to arrive. 

Nature is about to burst at the seams. 

Here comes the sun.  Doo'n do do.  Here comes the sun.  And I say, it's all right.

The warming sun signals relief, and I'm ready.  The rest of nature has been waiting and getting ready as well.

Here Comes the Sun... and You

Spring arrives today at 23:21 UTC (for those of us in America that's 6:21pm Eastern Daylight Time). 

Today is the perfect day to start a "New Year's Resolution." 

Why?

Because, starting a New Year's Resolution in January, the most depressing month of the year, is unproductive, and, therefore,... depressing when you fail.

So, why not start all the healthy and productive ideas you've been having now?

You most likely tried to do these things on January 1st and then failed a week or two into it. 

But now you have the sun!

You're no dummy.  You already know that sunlight is a natural anti-depressant, and that lack of sunlight causes depression. There's even a medical name for depression caused by a lack of sunlight - Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). 

So, why on earth would you think of motivating yourself to start something "out of the ordinary for you" on some of the most depressing days of the year and then be successful? 

You wouldn't, right?

Well, if there was at least half a day's worth of daylight, and you were getting more minutes of it every day, you would be more motivated to accomplish those resolutions. 

Studies show that it takes 28 days to form a habit.  So, if you were trying to change something about yourself, or your daily routine, and you wanted it to "stick," then you need to be motivated for at least 28 days to be successful. 

The minutes of daylight in each day has been increasing since December21st.  But, at (or around) the Spring Equinox, each day has more sunlight than darkness.  And the sunlight will grow until June 21st of this year. 

That's well over the 28 days you'll need to establish your healthy new habit!

And, the sun will still out-weigh darkness each day until September 23rd.  So, you'll be going strong with sunlight on your side for 6 whole months! 

So, when winter (and next New Year's) comes around, you will have to think of a new "New Year's Resolution," instead of trying to find a way to re-do last year's failures. 

But don't forget to wait until the Spring Equinox to actually start it.  You'll be more successful that way. 

Don't know what to change about yourself?  Here are some suggestions, in no particular order.

The Apple Guardian's Best Resolutions You Can Give Yourself:

• Rescue an animal.  If you plan on getting a new pet, don't go to a breeder.  Getting your pet from a shelter saves the life of your pet and puts breeders out of business.  For more information on this visit the ASPCA or the Humane Society's website. 
• Feed wild birds.  Or at least observe them.  You'll gain a new appreciation of our natural world.  You will even be more in tune to the rest of nature all around you. 
• Exercise more.  Duh.  This is an obvious one.  But this time you are more likely to be successful.  And you won't believe how amazing you will feel when you can keep it up for a long period of time!
• Smile more.  Seriously, try it.  People will respond to you like you are someone special.  And you are!  But most importantly, you will feel light-hearted and generous, which then will lead to even better relations with others.  Just start with random people you walk by every day.  You'll see. 
• Learn a new language.  Have you ever seen two people trying to communicate to each other, and neither of them speak the same language as the other?  Do you notice that they each treat the other person as if that person were stupid?  Peace and compatibility start with understanding. 
• Participate in outdoor activities.  Find an outdoor recreational sport that you've always been interested in - or something you've never tried - (preferably a non-polluting one) and start becoming a regular at it.  Once you develop a regular outdoor hobby, you will be physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy. 
• Visit National/State parks.  There are National parks, forests, wildlife refuges and historical areas near you that you may not know about.  Find out where they are, and make a commitment to visit at least one a month.  Take family/friends or go alone.  You'll learn more about your area, enjoy time with others, and/or find a peaceful place to relax. 
• Go organic.  Find out how organic foods are beneficial for you and the environment and where you can find them.  Turn all your meals 100% organic. 
• Conserve energy.  Find out ways to lower your carbon footprint... and your energy costs.
• Go Vegetarian.  Why?  Because it's healthier for you, the environment, and obviously the animals involved. 
• Buy more fairly traded items.  When you, for example, purchase fairly traded coffee over regular coffee, you are ensuring that those who worked to produce your coffee was treated, well, fairly.  You will help those in poor countries to make a fair living and successfully raise their families.
• Recycle.  This is a daily activity that you and your family can get into.  Call your local recycling office, obtain a recycling bin or two, learn what goes into it, and start recycling.  You'll find you have more recyclables than trash.  And that's okay.  There's too much trash not going anywhere anyway. 
• Protect the world's habitats.  Okay, I know this one is loaded.  But just by doing several of the above, you will inadvertently be protecting the world's habitats.  Also find other ways to protect by volunteering, donating, etc.

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.