Thoughts from the National Wildlife Federation’s blog for growing native plants to help our backyard birds.
Garden for Wildlife Month May 23, 2013
May is Garden for Wildlife Month. Create a garden that attracts wildlife and get certified by NWF (National Wildlife Federation). My garden is certified and this year I certified as an advanced wildlife habitat for creating a bird-friendly habitat. Fun!
You can get certified too. It’s easy.
Tips for Photographing Birds from NWF May 22, 2013
Get tips from photographer Christine Haines, member of NWF’s Flickr group for photographing your favorite birds.
source: National Wildlife Federation, blog.nwf.org
Bird photography tips: http://blog.nwf.org/2013/05/wildlife-through-a-lens-focus-on-birds/
Indigo Bunting! May 21, 2013
We have a new bird in the neighborhood…this beautiful Indigo Bunting! Although the Indigo Bunting breeds in MN all summer, this is the first time I’ve ever spotted one. It was thrilling and it’s been hanging around a couple of weeks. I sure hope it stays around to visit my feeders often.
Are you seeing new species of birds in your yard this year?
indigo bunting |
PaulasGardenPatch.com
Our Tree Swallows Are Back May 1, 2013
We have at least 1 pair of Tree Swallows that return to nest in our garden every year. They returned a few days ago and have been checking out the nestbox each day since. They spend several days just flying around the yard, going in and out of the nestbox before they begin building their nest. Hubs and I get a kick out of watching them and being greeted by their warbly call.
tree swallow nesting
tree swallow
I love the stark contrast in their coloring – iridescent blue/green feathers with bright white breasts (females are duller with more brown in their feathers). These beauties nest in tree cavities, but readily adapt to nestboxes. Hang one in your yard and see if you can attract them! If you want to attract just Tree Swallows, be sure you have the right opening. Too large an opening will attract other birds like sparrows or chickadees. We had to “flatten” the opening a bit. Instead of making it round, we found that a flatter oval shape approximately 2″ wide x 1″ tall works best. The Tree Swallows (and maybe a House Wren) are the only birds that can make themselves small enough to squeeze in.
Did you know…
- Tree Swallows feed on small insects that they catch in their mouths during flight?
- They can eat plant foods as well as their normal insect diet, which helps them survive cold snaps and wintry weather in early spring, such as we’re having!
- Tree Swallows winter farther north than any other American swallows and return to their nesting grounds long before other swallows come back?
- The oldest Tree Swallow on record was at least 12 years, 1 month old when it was captured and released by an Ontario bird bander in 1998?
Source: AllAboutBirds.org
P.S. As I get ready to share this post today, we have a winter storm warning! 6-9 more inches of heavy snow headed our way. The WORST time for this since plants and bulbs are beginning to peek out of the ground. And it’s really bad for our fruit tree farms and wineries! 
