Working this morning on expanding my Earth Day post into a column on the contribution of small and medium farms to providing diverse habitat for many struggling species. The loss of such enterprises has done a lot of harm...
How does your farm or home or backyard support birds and wild creatures? We leave our hedgerows alone, mow around nests in hay fields, have pastures, and maintain open forest and edge areas, sometimes by accident.....
I'd love to know....
What interesting birds and animals do you see each day?
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We don't farm, so have only grass that many species use to live in and on.. we have both whitetail and mule deer, pronghorns, bobcat, coyote, fox, an occasional mountain lion and all sorts of birds who make a living off this land, just as we... contrary to some opinions, where cattle roam, so does wild life...they compliment each other...
We don't farm, and thankfully nothing nests in my grass for me to mow around, but we've avoided cutting down trees that desperately need it because there's something nesting in it.....(its been almost 3 years since we moved in, 3 of the 5 trees that really needed to come down are still in place)
Great minds think alike...but sometimes for different reasons. I'm expanding the "natural area" on my 2-acre lot because I need to decrease the mowing time. And I will enjoy helping the wildlife. The acres surrounding me are woods and meadow, so the critters are already happy.
A herd of 7 deer pranced across my yard one morning last week. The local birds include cardinals, blue-jays, finches, wrens, bluebirds and many many more. Raccoons come each night to eat my feral cats' leftovers. I see an occasional opossum, and the rare fox. I AM BLESSED.
Susan
http://naturally.my-expressions.com
Moose, now black & brown bears, eagles, northern crested chickadees, and now seagulls for the summer.
what a wonderful day for Earth day!
We put 40 acres of our small farm into the federal grassland reserve program, which means it will remain farm land in perpetuity. We also have a 10 acre hay field that we never mow until after the second week of July so that the ground nesting birds have have a place to nest. We had over 30 pairs of Bobolinks there last year.
I love it that you and Dancing Donkey mow around nests ! Love it!
Today in my backyard: spitting snow.
In the past week: usual yard birds, but also a couple hermit thrushes and {drumroll} a leucistic junco that has now moved north.
Steve, um, no thanks. I have my own beliefs. I invite you to leave me alone.
Robert, that is so true and yet understood by so very few. Too many people doing their opining from office chairs...
Ruth, so you do your bit and good for you for doing it.
Susan, that is wonderful. It is amazing what is out there! Someday when I am rich I am going to get a game cam and set it up right out in the yard. Can you imagine what it will capture?!?
Rev. Paul, you have critters in your backyard...and streets....and parking lots...that would terrify me. lol
Lisa, wasn't it though!
Dancing Donkey, wow, thirty pairs! That is awesome. We usually have quite a few but I have noticed the decline very much. Where there were dozens, now only a handful remains. Sad. I was working on research yesterday and saw some numbers on bird decline. If more people don't work at providing habitat we may be the last generation to have much to look at beyond starlings and house sparrows. Wow.
Cathy, hermit thrushes! That would be a lifer for me. Congrats on the junco too. Really cool. Many farmers mow around nests if they see them in time. Our men always have. We used to have harriers that loved to nest by an old spring house in one of our fields. It is already a hard field to work, being odd shaped and full of awkward corners and their activities didn't make it any easier. It was worth it though.
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