By Jennifer Jurik
The Farmer’s Almanac is forecasting a “numbing” winter for the northeast. If thoughts about how our feathered friends will fare in below-average temperatures, there are a few things we can do for our neighborhood birds. Besides providing food, water, and suitable cover to identify common backyard birds, we can take advantage of the winter months to spot some uncommon winter visitors as well.
Getting to know winter birds is easy if you have a feeder in your yard. To attract the most kinds of birds, consider using sunflower oilers. Common birds that will eat these small black sunflower seeds are chickadees, titmice, bluejays, cardinals, house finches, purple finches, juncos, white-throated sparrows, and song sparrows, just to name a few. Tube feeders that are difficult for squirrels to get to can feed many different kinds of birds. (Inexpensive feeders can be made from 2-litre soda bottles.) Keep the feeders near shelter like an evergreen shrub, but not too close so that cats have an easy time catching unsuspecting birds that feed on the ground. (You can reuse your Christmas tree for this purpose.) Place the feeder in view from a window where you can keep a pair of binoculars and a field guide. Keep a record of the birds that visit your yard. You may even decide to share your collected data with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society by participating in the “The Great Backyard Bird Count.”birdsource.org or birds.cornell.edu
Another great way to attract birds is to provide water throughout the winter. If you have a bird bath warmer, you may get some uncommon visitors to your yard on the coldest winter days. Check with Shirley Feed, Home Depot, Jonseys or Smittys for a selection on bath warmers. Just like the feeder, do not place the bird bath too close to places a cat can hide while stalking its prey. A wet bird is vulnerable because their feathers are heavy, making a fast get away difficult.
Here are some basic birding tips to identifying your winter bird feeder visitors.
Some of the birds’ names are the same as their calls, like the chickadee (chick-a-dee-dee-dee). One can also identify by referring to the bird’s color in a beginner guide book (blue jay, goldfinch, cardinal). For a quick reference of Long Island’s most common backyard birds, go to libirding.com
For more tips on bird identification, visit birds.cornell.edu
Upcoming Bird Walks & Talks:
Saturday, February 14th, GBBC Bird Walk, 9:00 AM (Rain date: Feb. 15, 9:00 AM)
The William Floyd Estate, Mastic, NY
Bring binoculars for this two-mile walk through the fields, woods, creeks and marshes of the old Estate where a wide variety of birds spend the winter. All species seen will be reported to the GBBC. Contact: Ranger Lamont at (631) 399-2030 for details and information on directions to the Estate.
Places to go birding in the AntiHamptons:
Fire Island National Seashore nps.gov/fiis/planyourvisit/birdwatching.htm
Otis Pike Wilderness Area nps.gov/fiis/planyourvisit/wilderness-visitor-center.htm
Wertheim NWR fws.gov/northeast/longislandrefuges/wertheim.html
Smith Point County Park nps.gov/fiis/planyourvisit/smith-point-county-park.htm
(Apparently, a snowy owl was spotted here this past November, as well as snow buntings and pine siskins.)
DEC Land to go birding with a free-seasonal access permit:
John's Neck near Mastic Beach-Shirley
Tuthill Cove in East Moriches
Havens Point near East Moriches-Eastport in Town of Brookhaven
contact the DEC license office in Stony Brook (631-444-0273)
Get your yard in tip top shape before the winter and your garden will thank you ten-fold next spring! It's autumn, the kids are back at school, a chill is in the air and the leaves are falling. A little bit of work in the fall will really pay off when spring rolls around. It is the best way to get a head start on next year's growing season.
1. Rake those leaves. Getting all those leaves up is so important to the well being of your lawn. Matted down leaves will smother your lawn and leave barren spots in the spring. Don't worry about getting every last leaf, especially in the garden. They help insulate plants, and as they decompose, which provides valuable nutrients. Just be sure they wont blow around. Give them a layer of mulch and the garden will thank you.
2. Feed the grass. Use non-chemical slow release lawn fertilizer and keep in mind that we live in a watershed (over feeding contributes to the brown algae blooms in our waterways).
3. Weed! Weeding in the fall is probably the most valuable thing you can do to prepare for spring, and it's one that many people overlook. Weeding your lawn in the fall is like wrapping the lights from your Christmas tree correctly — it makes everything easier next time.
4. Pick up the poop. When the snow melts next spring, the last thing you want to see on your lawn is pet waste. Plus picking up the poop keeps the nitrates and e-coli out of our waterways.
5. Aerate. Heavy use throughout the summer can cause soil to become compacted. Perforating your lawn with small holes helps reduce compaction and lets water, air and fertilizer get down to the soil, which strengthens the grass plant's root structure.
6. Water trees and shrubs. Dehydration during the colder months is an all-too-common cause of tree damage, but it's easily preventable. To sustain them over the long winter, it's important to give trees a drink before putting them to bed. After they go fully dormant - but before the ground freezes - use a soaker hose or root irrigator to water them thoroughly.
7. Clean out your garden. After the frost clean away all blackened plants. If left in the garden they can rot all winter long, and provide a comfy home for insect eggs. Now's the time to get rid of diseased plants, too, but keep them out of the compost pile so the problem doesn't spread to the rest of your garden next year.
8. Plant spring bulbs. Fall is the perfect time to plant spring flowering bulbs like daffodils and tulips. Planting too early can cause bulbs to sprout before winter, and planting them too late can mean their roots don't have enough time to develop before the ground freezes. The week before Halloween seems to be the perfect time here in the AntiHamptons.
9. Give your tools a tune-up. When it comes time to put away the backyard tools for the season, don't just shove them into the garage or shed. Spend a few minutes wiping them down and removing debris and dirt, then apply a light layer of oil to keep them from rusting over the winter. That way they'll be all set to go again come spring.
10. Winterize. Final winterizing is usually done in late November after a deep freeze, but tying the canes of roses loosely beforehand will ease the job. For the final winterizing, cut the canes back to about 6 to 12 inches and mound the plants with fresh topsoil purchased earlier. Protect young trees from rodent damage. Install windbreaks and add compost and peat moss to gardens.
The reasons we should recycle are numerous. For starters if we recycle we save our natural resources. Aluminum doesn't have to be mined to make cans, trees don't have to be dropped to make paper. Which conserves our land and reduces our need for oil and other minerals. Remember we pay a 2% tax to conserve our land, why waste that money by not recycling?
Recycling saves energy. It takes 95% less energy to make new aluminum cans from old ones than it does to create new cans from bauxite ore. Making products from recycled materials creates less air and water pollution because it saves energy and natural resources. It saves landfill space by having the items we recycle go into new products instead of landfills or incinerators.
By recycling we save money and create jobs! The recycling processes create more jobs than landfills and incinerators do. They are also a less expensive method for waste management. Are you seeing the snowball effect here? By everyone recycling we make the AntiHamptons an EVEN BETTER place to live.
We have a terrific recycling program here in the AntiHamptons. The Town of Brookhaven has an entire guide as to what we can recycle and what will be thrown away. You can find it on the towns web site http://www.brookhaven.org/WasteManagement/tabid/139/Default.aspx
The delicate ecosystem that encompasses the AntiHamptons is as fragile as it is beautiful. There are three species on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species List that live here amongst us. The Piping Plover, The Seabeach Amaranth and the Roseate Tern. Let’s do what we can to increase these species numbers in the AntiHamptons.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service Long Island Field Office in Brookhaven is involved in recovery efforts for piping plover (Charadrius melodus), roseate terns (Sterna dougallii dougallii), seabeach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus), and sandplain gerardia (Agalinus acuta). Recovery efforts include on-site monitoring, participation in plant and animal census surveys, predator management, oil-spill cleanups, public and private landowner assistance, public education and outreach.
Piping plover (Charadrius melodus)
All of the piping plovers within the New York portion of the Atlantic Coast plover population occur on Long Island. There are about 65 sites surveyed annually as part of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (NYSDEC) Long Island Colonial Water bird and Piping Plover Census Survey Program. These active breeding areas are located across the north and south shore of Long Island from Queens County in the west to Suffolk County in the east. In 2001, the New York Atlantic Coast piping plover population was 309 pairs. In 2007, the New York Atlantic Coast piping plover population estimate was 575 pairs.
The Long Island Field Office in Brookhaven works cooperatively with federal, state, and local governments, private organizations, and private landowners on recovery actions supporting piping plovers. Each year the Long Island Field Office coordinates with its public and private partners in providing equipment, logistical, and technical assistance in matters related to threatened and endangered species recovery. Specifically, the Long Island Field Office assists in the NYSDEC's Long Island Colonial Water bird and Piping Plover Survey, installation of symbolic fencing to protect breeding areas and nest enclosures to protect nests, outreach/public education, the creation of a natural resources user group, and site-specific coordination with land owners and managers on threatened and endangered species management, as well as field responses to potential and actual take situations.
Seabeach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus)
Long Island supports the largest population of seabeach, extending from South Carolina to Massachusetts. Each year Endangered Species Biologists from the Long Island Field Office assist the New York Natural Heritage Program in conducting annual surveys for this threatened species. In 2001, a total of 179,300 plants were surveyed at twenty-three sites stretching from Breezy Point, Queens County to Hampton Beach in Suffolk County along the south shore of Long Island.
Roseate tern (Sterna dougallii dougallii)
The northeastern population of roseate terns is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Currently, one active colony of roseate terns occurs in the entire state at Great Gull Island, Long Island, which is owned and managed by the New York Natural History Foundation.
In 2001, the Long Island Field Office worked with various public agencies and private organizations (e.g., the Long Island Beach Buggy Association, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Town of Southampton, Suffolk County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, and The Nature Conservancy) to restore roseate tern habitat in Shinnecock Bay at Warners Island. This island was the former site of a roseate tern colony, but has experienced severe erosion over the years resulting in the abandonment of this site by roseate terns. In addition, in 2002, the field office partnered with the Boy Scouts of America and U.S. Geological Service - Biological Resources Division, on the development and construction of roseate tern nesting boxes. This will augment the restoration projects and efforts to reestablish roseate tern colonies at some of their historic nesting areas.
What can you do to help? Join our local chapter of The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Respect all fenced or posted areas. Do not approach or linger near nesting sites. If pets are permitted on beaches keep them on leashes. Never leave trash or food scraps on the beach. Trash attracts predators. Be conscious of other species. We are there for recreation but the dunes and beaches are their homes.
This story has been picked up from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service web site. http://www.fws.gov/northeast/nyfo/es/lirecovery.htm TOP
As wonderful as it was to watch the winter birds play at my feeders. I sit and wait for those first flocks or grackles swoop down and bully out the morning doves, cardinals and blue-jays. With their beady eyes, iridescent feathers and orange feet they are not the most beautiful birds, but to me they are the most welcome. Because when I see them I know the migration north has started and I'll soon be seeing the red-breasted robin, the blackbirds, the orioles and lastly the goldfinch.
Our trees hold the sweet sounds of warblers and with their song you understand the the poem by Emily Dickinson, "These are the days when the birds come back" to know that it is glorious indeed to see the harbingers of spring. Down at the tackle shop you can hear the phrase uttered, "Soon there will be osprey, when you see osprey go get some fish". Everyone loves to see our birds.
We are particularly privileged here in the AntiHamptons. We have some of the best landscapes for birding. Not only do we have the waterfowl in our waterways. But we have the songbirds of the woods, the birds of prey in the wetlands and the insect eaters in our wide open spaces.
To identify go to http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/ or http://www.libirding.com/
GENERAL ID TIPS:
Field Marks:
Color
Size
Wing Bars
Bill size & shape
Chest streaking
Eye ring/stripes
Head markings
Tail
Behavior Is Important too:
Feeding Behavior
Ground Feeder, Insect catching?
Any tail bobbing/wagging?
Appear shy/bold?
Slow/Fast moving?
Notice Habitat:
Fields, woods, marsh?
High in trees, low in shrubs?
Happy Birding! TOP
