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BLOGGER SHARES HER EXPERTISE WITH HEAL-ALL

May7

        My recent post concerning trying to grow heal-all in containers prompted one of our fellow bloggers, Margaret Molyson, to share her more extensive experiences with this wonderful plant.  I was so impressed with her comments; I felt that they should be shared with all of you.

       Margaret wrote, “I love the heal-all plant but have found it somewhat quirky to establish.  I saved seeds from two plants growing in part of our yard that did not get mowed.  The following year I grew them, then planted the seedlings outside; they bloomed the first year!  I loved them.  Once again, collecting some, but not all, of the seeds.  I did the same process again but planted the seedlings in another area.  They did wonderfully there last summer.  Now, there are no plants in the original place where they were planted, the second area planted is about half, but the walkway, which is wood chips, next to both plantings is loaded with plants!  It might not be able to compete with other plants well.”

       Margaret, I cannot thank you enough for sharing your experiences with all of us!

 

PAINTED BUNTINGS MAKE A RARE VISIT TO A GEORGIA BACKYARD

May3

      The painted bunting is widely recognized that the most beautiful songbird seen in Georgia.  However, most of us never have the opportunity to gaze on the amazingly gorgeous bird in our backyards.  However, from time to time, one ventures outside its traditional range breeding range and shows up at a backyard.  A week ago, two male painted buntings made such an appearance in a backyard near the small town of Culloden in Monroe County. This appears to be the first time that the species has ever been documented in this Middle Georgia County.

       The main reason why most of us never host a painted bunting is that the bird’s breeding area hugs the Georgia Coast.  Consequently, if you live away from Georgia’s coastal counties, and want to see the colorful birds, you must travel to spots such as Skidaway Island State Park and Jekyll Island to see one.

       It is not widely known that a small number of the birds breed in and around Luther Williams Field and Central City Park in Macon.  In addition, the birds are also known to breed near Americus in Sumter County. 

       In addition, the painted buntings that breed in the Peach State winter from Central Florida to Cuba, the Bahama Islands at other locations in the Caribbean and beyond.  However, on rare occasions, painted buntings will winter far north of the traditional wintering areas.  For example, in 2015, a painted bunting wintered in New York City’s Central Park.  Now that was one hardy bird! 

       For those of us hoping beyond hope that we will someday see one feeding in our backyards, the odds of this happening may be getting a little better.  The reason I say this is the Georgia Breeding Bird Atlas Project revealed that some painted buntings are actually nesting in a few counties scattered across the Georgia Coastal Plain.  This bolsters the chances that folks living in those counties will see the handsome birds.

       In addition, since painted buntings are known to scatter widely after nesting, perhaps some of the birds that breed or are raised some distance from the coast, will begin showing up at more backyard feeders before heading south for the winter. Time will tell.

       In the meantime, if you keep your feeders stocked with the bird’s favorite foods, perhaps one will appear in your yard. Some experts consider white proso millet to be their favorite feeder food.  The birds are also very fond on black oil sunflower seeds.

       Interestingly, the birds the appeared in Monroe County fed exclusively on peanut butter suet plugs, nuggets, and cakes in addition to dried mealworms.  White proso millet was not available to them. In addition, the only sunflower seeds that were present were hulled sunflower seeds treated with pepper.

       If you want to enter the painted bunting lottery this spring and summer, offer the foods the birds like best at you backyard café and cross your fingers.  Perhaps some of us will get lucky this year.

RARE WHITE CARDINAL APPEARS AT FEEDER

Mar5

       Recently a Bibb County, Georgia homeowner looked out her window and saw an odd bird.  The bird had the shape of cardinal; however, it was mostly white.  One of the first things that popped into her mind was the mysterious bird was a species she had never seen.  What was she looking at?

       It turns out the bird is a leucistic cardinal.  This cardinal displays some pigment.  Albino cardinals have no pigment.

       Such birds are extremely rare.  The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology conducts an annual FeederWatch Survey.  Each year survey participants report approximately 5.5 million birds. On an average, only 236 of the birds tallied annually had albinism or leucism.  This works out of roughly one out of every 30,000 is either leucistic or albinistic.

       Leucism is much more common than albinism. According to the experts, out of every 100 birds that are reported with abnormal plumage only three are true albinos and 82 are leucistic.

BLOGGER SHARES GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET EXPERIENCE

Dec28

       In a recent blog, I wrote about my quest to spot a golden-crowned kinglet in my yard.  Since I wrote that blog, I have heard golden-crowned kinglets in my yard several times; however, I have yet to see a bird.

       In the meantime, one of our fellow bloggers was kind enough to share his amazing encounter with a golden-crowned kinglet.  In addition to describing his experience, he offers advice as to where we might find the world’s smallest perching bird.

  December 11, 2022, Donald wrote, Hi. I was sitting very still in the woods about around 7:40 am last week observing roosted turkeys and a small and very active male golden-crowned kinglet landed on the branch in front of me.  He was quite noisy and active and flew all over the small wood.  Very specific call.  I would suggest heavily wood areas with low shrubs.

       As Donald noted, golden-crowned kinglets are always on the move.  In, fact during the winter it is not rare for a golden-crowned kinglet to stop foraging for more than two seconds before resuming its quest for food.  Finding enough food during a winter day is a matter of life and death.  If, for any reason, a kinglet is unable to locate any food for an hour or two during the day, it just may die during the night.

BLOGGERS SHARE SUET TIPS

Nov30

       Two bloggers have taken the time and effort to share with us their tips regarding suet.   This information is very helpful.  With a dizzying variety of suets available to us, it is great to know what works and what doesn’t.

       Joan wrote to say that she makes her own suet.  Her suet recipe consists of lard and a mixture of sunflower and millet seeds.  She went on to say that her birds prefer it to commercial woodpecker blocks.  She also added that since her suet melts when daily temperatures begin rising at the end of winter, she stops feeding it to her birds in early spring.

       Brooks commented that he stopped stocking his suet feeders with peanut butter suet because hungry squirrels like it too much.  In an effort to remedy this problem, he now stocks his feeders with suet laced with hot pepper flakes.  The suet containing hot pepper flakes doesn’t seem to bother the birds, but the squirrels don’t like it.

       If you have found a suet that either works great or doesn’t work at all, let me know about it.

BLOGGER REPORTS IMPACT OF JORO SPIDERS IN HER YARD

Aug24

      Whenever an exotic plant or animal is introduced and begins expanding its population across the landscape it is often impossible to know far it will spread and what, if any, affect it will have on native species. Unfortunately, far too often foreign introductions have a deleterious impact on our native flora and fauna.

       In the 17 August 2022, I provided an update on the rapid spread of the Joro spider across North Georgia.  In response to the blog, Julie H. posted a thought-provoking response in which she described the impact the spider appears to be having on the some of the wild animals living on her property. 

I found her comments so insightful I decided to share them with each of you.  Below you will find this posting.

Blogger Julie Hemminger replied to the August 17th post…

     I completely disagree with the low key/ low threat assessment of the joro spider. I live in the Hoschton area, where they were first discovered. I have lived in this home & area for 18yrs, so I have a decent long range perspective.
   I am an avid gardener & love bugs, insects, etc. As a result, I notice all these wonderful creatures in my garden & enjoy them all. Unfortunately, *ever since* the joro spider began showing up in my wooded yard & garden, 8yrs ago, I no longer see the beautiful garden “writing/zig zag” spiders that I so enjoyed, or the cool orb spiders that would appear in the fall, or many other delightful small spiders.

     The joro spiders are highly invasive in my observation. It has been at least 7yrs since I’ve seen the garden writing spider! I’m not mixing them up either. To me, it’s very easy to tell the diff btwn the garden & the joro spider, even though many people do get those 2 spiders mixed up. The easiest way is the joro spider has a red dot on it’s underside, the garden spider does not.

     This June ‘22 summer, I killed a joro spider up in WNC, @ Lake Santeetlah, near Robbinsville, NC – when we there vacationing. I was angry to see it now in NC. I will kill every joro spider I see. They have thrown off the spider status quo in our area where they first appeared. They’re just about the only spider you ever see now & that does not appear to be a good sign at all. Everything in our environment needs balance. There is no balance with the joro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLOGGER CONCERNED ABOUT THREAT TO HUMMINGBIRDS POSED BY JORO SPIDER

Aug17

       Recently I received a post from one of our fellow bloggers that lives in the Athens area voicing concern that spiders might pose a threat to hummingbirds.  In response to her communication, I have tried to uncover any reports of hummingbirds being caught in the large, sticky webs constructed by Joro spiders. 

       For those of you that that are not familiar with the Joro spider, this large spider is native to Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China.  It first appeared in the United States in Hoschton, Georgia in 2013.

       This long-legged foreign invader has spread rapidly and is now weaving their large, sticky webs in at last 25 counties in North Georgia.  The spider has also been found in nearby South Carolina.

       Experts tell us that Joro spiders do not eat birds.  However, it is well known that hummingbirds are caught in the webs fashioned by a variety of native spiders.  In such cases, unless an unfortunate hummingbird can break free or rescued, it dies of either from starvation or dehydration.

       To date, I have not found any documentation of a hummingbird being caught in a Joro spider web.  However, that does not necessarily mean that this does not occur.  If you have seen and perhaps photographed such an event, please let me know.

SPIDER-JORO-2-Dorothy-Kozlowski-UGA-Sept-2021

       Since the joro spider has not been in the country very long, experts are unable to determine the impact, if any; this spider is going to have on native animals. In the meantime, Richard Hoebeke, an entomologist and curation with the Georgia Museum of Natural History, offers this advice, “Spiders are beneficial, they are feeding on insects that a log of people consider pests, yellow jackets, stink bugs, mosquitoes, other insects that people don’t want to see around the house, they would be happy to have them in their webs. And a lot of them do end up in their webs.  So, I consider them beneficial, I would just simply leave them alone. Don’t get in their way. Don’t aggregate them.  Just let them be.”

       For more information on the Joro spider, go to Search on the right side of this Blog and type in either Joro spider or Spider alert.

BLOGGER REPORTS GOLDFINCHES LOVE ANISE HYSSOP

Jul13

       One of the many things I enjoy about blogging is fellow bloggers are often willing to share their wildlife experiences and gardening tips.  Recently blogger Heather N. graciously revealed one of her wildlife gardening tips.

       Heather wrote that each summer one of the plants that goldfinches are drawn to in her yard is anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum).  She went on to say that these beautiful birds are eating anise hyssop seeds right now.

       Since I am not familiar with the plant, I decided to do a little research on it.  I found that it is native to the northern section of the United States and Canada.  However, this perennial herb is widely planted in many parts of the country, including Georgia.

       The plant produces blooms that attract a number of pollinators such as butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. Its leaves produce a pleasant licorice scent.  Its seeds are also consumed by a number of birds, like goldfinches.

       If Heather had not taken the time to share her wildlife gardening tip, I might not have ever learned of anise hyssop’s value to wildlife. Now that I am aware of it, I hope to find a place for it in my yard.

Thanks Heather!

BIRDS LOVE BLACK CHERRIES

Jun12

       Many birds are so fond of berries and fruits they will travel some distance to eat them.  Even birds they we do not associate with such foods will go out of their way to find and eat them whenever they are in season.  My daughter Angela recently learned that one of these birds in the great crested flycatcher.

       Birds living in most subdivisions find wild foods hard to come by.   However, Angela has a black cherry (Prunus serotina) tree growing alongside the fence that separates her and her neighbor’s backyards. Somehow the tree escaped the bull dozer, or perhaps sprouted from a seed left behind by a bird that dined on black cherry sometime in the past. It is now old enough to annually produce a crop of pea-sized, shiny red to almost black fruits.

Black Cherry Tree || Photo credit: Angela Dupree

       Angela has seen many different species of birds descend on the tree in May and June to chow down on the juicy fruits.  However, recently she heard an unfamiliar bird call coming for the tree.  She immediately pulled up her Merlin bird identification app.  The app identified the bird as a great crested flycatcher.  She could not believe it!  She had never seen a great crested flycatcher in her yard before.  Needless to say, you would not expect to find this bird in a subdivision.

       Wanting to make sure Merlin had correctly identified her visitor; she sat down and waited for the bird to appear.  In a matter of minutes, the bird came into view—it was indeed a great crested flycatcher.  The bird was plucking black cherries hanging from the tree’s slender branches.

       Knowing that the great crested flycatcher primarily eats insects and other invertebrates she went online to see if black cherries are also consumed.  She learned that Georgia’s only flycatcher that nests in a cavity does indeed eat black cherries.

       Angela also learned that more than 40 other birds also eat the fruit of the black cherry tree.  Among the other birds that also dine on the juicy fruit are the summer tanager, eastern bluebird, woodpeckers, mockingbird, brown thrasher, and gray catbird. 

       My daughter is convinced that she would probably have never seen a great crested flycatcher in her yard if it wasn’t for the fact that a cherry tree was not there.  With that in mind she plans on keeping closer tabs on the birds that visit this great native tree.

       Angela realizes she will never know if the hungry great crested flycatcher flew in from the woods hugging a stream at the base of the hill well away from her home or elsewhere.  I guess it really doesn’t really matter from whence the bird came.  The important thing is it that it found this special tree and provided her with an unforgettable memory that prompted her to embark on a journey of discovery that led to her having greater appreciation for a tree that is too often considered to be nothing more than a weed.

THE FROGLOG CAN SAVE THE LIVES OF WILDLIFE IN YOUR YOUR BACKYARD

Apr11

        Each year untold numbers of frogs, toads, bats, rabbits, birds, chipmunks and other wildlife species are trapped in swimming pools and decorative water features with sides that are simply too steep for the animals to crawl to safety.  If they are lucky, they will be spotted by someone that can gently remove them from the water with long-handled net. However, in far too many instances the animals swim around until they become exhausted and drown.

       This past week, during a visit to the River Banks Botanical Garden in Columbia, South Carolina, my granddaughter, Anna, and her friends stumbled across a simple device that was being used to avoid such tragedies.  It seems they found 25+ toads mating in a pool surrounding a decorative fountain. Since the edge of the concrete pool was extremely steep, it was obvious the adult toads had little chance of climbing out of the pool after the female toads laid long gelatinous strings of eggs and the males fertilized them.

       In an effort to prevent the toads from drowning, several FrogLogs had been positioned along the edge of the pool.  The FrogLog is a simple device that serves as an exit ramp leading from water to dry land. If they are left in place after the adult toads hop to safety, they will serve as exit ramps for a new generation of toads.

       That is amazing when you consider the FrogLog consists of nothing more than an inflatable floating platform and fabric bag attached to a nylon mesh ramp.

       If you have a problem with animals becoming stranded in your pool, this might be a simple solution to a perplexing problem.