Still others advocate for Cheer Cheer!

Birding by ear can be tough but we came across this great sheet of bird mnemonics that you can use to help with that.

It’s fun to be walking through the woods, hear a call and know who else is there with you without having to necessarily see that friend.

Give it a shot — and feel free to make up your own rhymes too.  Whatever works!

You can also see the mnemonics above and others via these websites too:

http://www.fernbank.edu/Birding/mnemonics.htm

http://www.caculo.com/mnemonics.htm 

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/05/17/birdpoem/

Field guide to common macrofungi in eastern forests and their ecosystem functions
By: Ostry, Michael E.; Anderson, Neil A.; O’Brien, Joesph G.; 2011.

http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/38089

Abstract: Macrofungi are distinguished from other fungi by their spore-bearing fruit bodies (mushrooms, conks, brackets). These fungi are critical in forests, causing disease, and wood and litter decay, recycling nutrients, and forming symbiotic relationships with trees. This guide is intended to assist in identifying macrofungi and provide a description of the ecological functions of some of the most frequently encountered macrofungi in aspen-birch, northern hardwood, lowland conifer, and upland conifer forests in the Midwest and Northeast.

This publication provides a great illustration that is fun for kids and adults alike as well as puzzles and games.

The Watershed Map was recently distributed to 4^th graders at Newton Lee Elementary in Ashburn.

http://www.loudounwatershedwatch.org/pdf/LWW_Educational_Map.pdf

It’s been posted online and I wanted to share it here: http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/Wings_sp11_alien-plants.pdf

I remember when we first moved to Loudoun, we had to get a landscape plan for our house. This was a first for me. At the same time though, I was going through the National Wildlife Federation’s Habitat Steward Class and had just learned about native plants versus non-native. 

I remember getting the landscape plan back from the designer and looking at it wide-eyed at all the non-native plants he planned for us. 

The layout of the landscaping was great and we went with that, but that was as far as it went. It was our choice — to plant natives or to plant aliens (ornamentals). I’m sure you can guess the path we chose. I bought books, created a native plant list, and tracked down native plants at every local nursery I could find and we planted our gardens with native plants.

It’s not all milkweed and goldenrod though, we do have a few non-natives and invasives like japanese stiltgrass, multiflora rose and others keep showing up throughout our property such that while I go off to work they get busy spreading.

It’s tough to keep the non-natives at bay but what we can do is make the choice to plant natives in our landscape, to replace the ornamentals that maybe came with our houses or that landscape designers who didn’t know better selected.

Later today (or sometime this weekend), after pulling a very aggressive but so far unestablished stock of mile-a-minute from our garden, I’ll post some shots and stories about butterfly caterpillars I’ve been encountering on native plants in our yard.  It’s good fun! (not the part about pulling mile-a-minute, but the part about the caterpillars)

As we get out into our gardens this spring, we have a nice opportunity to do some native plantings. 

Native bees are one of our most important pollinators and they’re really incredible to watch. 

As you start observing them you’ll also start to recognize different species that we have here in Loudoun – there are lots of different species!

The Xerces Society has put together a nice tip-sheet on plants that are great for our native bees.

Beautiful for your garden, great for the bees!  You can download it here.

What an absolute inspiration!  Personally, I plan to plant 3 oak trees this spring to add to the mix of black cherry, birch and other trees around our house.  I’m also excited to get into the garden and make sure my host and nectar plants for butterflies are in prime form – ready to be gobbled up and enjoyed by caterpillars (who in some cases will be gobbled up by birds).

“Garden as if Life depended on it” — When Dr. Tallamy signed my book, he included that inscription, and I can’t think of a better, more succinct message.  Let’s do it! Because it does!

Dr.Tallamy’s website has an excel spreadsheet that you can download that shows which plants will bring the greatest wildlife benefit to your yard.  Use this, along with our Gardening for Wildlife Plant list and other materials.

Let’s talk with our neighbors and start converting our wastelands of lawn into thriving rich habitat of native plans – they’re beautiful and exciting! Let’s Bring Nature Home!

If you missed the program, keep an eye on his website for upcoming lectures and check out his book.

“Bringing Nature Home” by Doug Tallamy ― Tuesday, March 22, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. (Ida Lee Park, downstairs meeting room).Gardening in our crowded world carries both moral and ecological responsibilities that we can no longer ignore. Because our gardens and managed landscapes are part of the world that sustains humans and the life around us, we must give thoughtful consideration to what we plant in our gardens and how these choices impact the environment. We can no longer view plants only as ornaments but must consider all of their roles and their intricate relationships with animals and insects. Tallamy will discuss the importance of native plants in our landscapes, emphasize the benefits of designing gardens with these roles in mind, and explore the consequences of failing to do so. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear this inspiring and enlightening message in person!

Doug is author of the best selling book, Bringing Nature Home.  [from an article I read recently, "People are calling Doug Tallamy's new book on native plants the next Silent Spring."]

Feel free to download the flierand share it with anyone interested. This free program is sponsored by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. Questions: contact Laura McGranaghan at lmcgranaghan@loudounwildlife.org.

We’ll also have copies of our Gardening for Wildlife Plant List available for you to take.

It’s two-sided and seems to have our most frequent visitors as well as a few that we may only see in the rare year.

I really like that it has both the Hairy and Downy woodpeckers on it so you do a comparison.  It’s also nice that the Pine Siskin is on here since we do get them on occasion in the winter.

A very handy reference that you can print out and post on the fridge or keep near your favorite feeder watching chair (we all have one of those, don’t we )

If the link above doesn’t work, you can get it here too: Free Feeder Birds Poster from Cornell.

Download a copy of the Winter Habitat Herald and feel free to share it with friends.

The winter issue of the Habitat Herald was sent to members in early January.

We keep all of our past Habitat Herald newsletters posted on the website. If you’re looking for information on a specific plant or animal or if you just want to read through some of the past projects we’ve done, you can check them out in the Habitat Herald Archives.

Here’s another really cool kit and birding program from Cornell Lab of Ornithology that I bet you’ll have a lot of fun with.

They have tips on recognizing different birds by their silhouettes, tally sheets for keeping track of and reporting your sightings, all sorts of great online resources and ideas for learning about birds and their habitats right here in our yards!

You can download the materials or have them mailed to you and for teachers who may be reading this, you can sign up to get multiple kits sent to you as well.  It’s a neat program.

And — reember, with our Loudoun County Bird Atlas, we could really use your bird sightings! So, as you’re reporting your data, be sure to send it in to us as well!