Showing posts sorted by date for query for the birds. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query for the birds. Sort by relevance Show all posts

For the Birds: We know we used your Mother’s Day fuchsia last year,

Friday, April 7, 2023

Photo by Christine Southwick

...but we needed to set up housekeeping now.

Oregon Juncos move in with For the Birds columnist Christine Southwick.




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For the Birds: Baby birds are emerging

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Bewick's Wren fledgling. Photo by Elaine Chuang
By Christine Southwick

Baby birds are hatching — Spotted Towhees and Anna’s Hummingbird young have been spotted in my yard, which means Dark-eyed Juncos and Bewick’s Wrens are close behind. 

These are the first breeders, others will follow; Song Sparrows, chickadees, Flickers, Downy, Hairy, and Pileated Woodpeckers, White-crowned Sparrows, finches, and American Robins to name a few.

Nestlings and fledglings need our help — don’t poison them with herbicides such as Round-up which get on their parents’ feet and get brought into the nests and cause them to die.

Bushtit looking for bugs to feed nestlings.
Photo by Elaine Chuang
American Robins are in sharp decline
, and one major cause is the poisoning of their lawns and the worms they eat.

Spraying bugs also kills birds. Parent birds feed their hatchlings a solid diet of bugs. 

Caterpillars, gnats, aphids, spiders, mosquitos, and bugs in leaf litter are the babies’ food. 

There aren’t any fruits to eat until later in the season, so if the bugs are poisoned, then birds perish.

Rufous Hummingbird on nest.
Photo by Doug Parrott
Native plants and trees help provide the bugs birds need and recognize
. More shrubs and less lawn provide cover for the safety of birds, especially fledglings. 

As you start cleaning up your yard, look for ground nests before whacking and mowing weedy areas.

If you find a baby bird on the ground, and it has feathers, it is a fledgling, and doesn’t need your help – its parents are nearby ready to nurture it. 

Keep dogs and cats away from it, and it will survive. 

Many ground birds leave the nest before they can fly — they scurry in different directions to enhance their chances of survival — nests can provide a quick and tasty meal for raccoons and other hungry creatures.

Dark-eyed Junco nest in fuschia.
Photo by Christine Southwick
Here is a yes/no link to determine if the baby bird you found needs your help.

https://www.pugetsoundbirds.org/baby-bird-advice 

Let our local birds take care of the bugs. Smile as a new generation of birds prospers with your help.

---
Note: I carefully watered around the nest in the fuschia. Three juncos. 

Locally if you see a bird flying into your hanging basket, a junco probably has a nest inside. They usually hatch in two weeks, and leave the nest two weeks later.


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April author events at Third Place Books

Friday, March 31, 2023

Photo by Steven H. Robinson
Third Place Books 
Lake Forest Park
April 2023 EVENTS

Please note: all times below are Pacific Time.
 
Both virtual and in-person events require registration in advance. Unless ticketed, events are free and open to the public. See thirdplacebooks.com for details.
 
() – denotes ticketed event
() – denotes event for children or middle grade readers

 

Tuesday, April 4 at 7pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Elana K. Arnold and Martha Brockenbrough
Harriet Spies and To Catch a Thief
It’s a joint book launch! In Elana K. Arnold’s Harriet Spies, the unforgettable star of Just Harriet returns for another mystery on Marble Island. In Martha Brockenbrough’s latest middle grade novel, To Catch a Thief, a thief steals Urchin Beach’s precious dragonfly staff, which is the source of all its good fortune and the most important part of the upcoming Dragonfly Day Festival.
    
Monday, April 10 at 7pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Sisters in Crime Night
Hosted by Marty Wingate
We’re pleased to welcome this long-standing Lake Forest Park writing group, Sisters in Crime, for an evening of readings from group members. Readers will include Catherine Linka, Joyce Yarrow, Jeanne Matthews, Alice K. Boatwright, Cynthia Baxter (Cynthia Blair), Curt Colbert, and Kate B. Jackson.
 
Thursday, April 13 at 6pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Angie Thomas with Christine Day
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy
Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of a new fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore, a story that Rick Riordan calls "one of those rare books that will instantly become the best friend you didn’t know you needed." Christine Day, the author of I Can Make This Promise and The Sea in Winter, joins in conversation. Tickets required. See thirdplacebooks.com for details.
  
Monday, April 17 at 6:30pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Local Author Open Mic
Calling all local writers and poets! Come share your work and develop your craft with other local authors on the third Monday of every month. For consignment requests, see thirdplacebooks.com for details.
  
Tuesday, April 18 at 7pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Susan Meissner with Kate Quinn
Only the Beautiful
Meissner’s latest historical novel is a heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter and the winds of fortune that tear them apart. Kate Quinn, author of The Diamond Eye, joins in conversation.

 

Thursday, April 20 at 7pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Jeannette Walls
Hang the Moon: A Novel
The author of the bestselling memoir The Glass Castle returns with a new novel, about an indomitable young woman in Virginia during Prohibition. You will fall in love with Sallie Kincaid, a feisty and fearless, terrified and damaged young woman who refuses to be corralled.
 
Saturday, April 22 at 11am (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Storytime with Katherine Roy
Making More: How Life Begins
Join us for storytime! Lucid, informed, and illuminated by beautiful paintings, Making More weaves a story that seamlessly explains life’s most fundamental process, answers children’s questions, and provides an essential tool for parents, caregivers, and educators.
  
Tuesday, April 25 at 7pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
David Nikki Crouse
Trouble Will Save You: Three Novellas
In these three deeply observed novellas, the award-winning author and director of the Creative Writing Program MFA at UW dramatizes the lives of women living in Interior Alaska. Each novella acts as an extended meditation on grief, loss, and the nature of imagination.
 
Wednesday, April 26 at 7pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Gretchen Rubin with Jon Mooallem
Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World 
One of today's foremost observers of the condition of happiness, and host of the popular podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, discusses her layered story of discovery filled with profound insights and practical suggestions about how to heighten our senses and use our powers of perception to live richer lives. New York Times Magazine writer at large Jon Mooallem joins in conversation. Tickets required. See thirdplacebooks.com for details.
 
Thursday, April 27 at 7pm (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Tove Danovich with Kelly Jones
Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them
Since first domesticating the chicken thousands of years ago, humans have become exceptionally adept at raising them for food. Yet most people rarely interact with chickens or know much about them. Culture reporter Tove Danovich explores the lives of these quirky, mysterious birds. Kelly Jones, author of Unusual Chickens, joins in conversation.
 
Saturday, April 29 at 11am (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park)
Storytime with Kobi Yamada
The popular children’s book author of many inspiring gift books—including Noticing, Feeling Grateful, Maybe, and Finding Muchness—joins us for a special Independent Bookstore Day reading and craft extravaganza for kids.
 
Saturday, April 29 (All locations)
INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY!
Come celebrate your neighborhood bookstore at our favorite annual event! In addition to participating in the Seattle Bookstore Day Challenge, visit your favorite Third Place Books locale to win prizes, browse staff picks by local authors, and make your own TPB bookmark.

Third Place Books is located on the upper level of Town Center in Lake Forest Park, intersection of Bothell and Ballinger Way.


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"Mountains, Birds, and Dinosaurs" – Philharmonia Northwest Presents Children's Concert with KING FM's Lisa Bergman

Friday, March 17, 2023

KING FM announcer Lisa Bergman joins Philharmonia Northwest and Music Director Julia Tai for one of the orchestra’s most beloved traditions: their annual Children’s Concert.

This year’s program, titled Mountains, Birds, and Dinosaurs, takes place Sunday March 26, 2023 at 2pm at the Shorecrest Performing Arts Center in Shoreline, 15343 25th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155.

Bergman will narrate The Mountain That Loved a Bird, a piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw based on the children’s book by author Alice McLerran and illustrator Eric Carle. 

This beloved story balances messages about friendship and renewal, but also loss and trying to hold onto things that will inevitably change.

The program also includes Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky, an ode to Russian folklore and literature, and well-known for its appearance in Disney’s Fantasia; and music from John Williams’ score to Jurassic Park, a favorite among film buffs and dinosaur fans of all ages.

Lisa Bergman
Bergman, also an acclaimed pianist and teacher, is a veteran radio broadcaster, best known for hosting KING FM’s Explore Music series as well as her decade-long tenure at Leavenworth’s KOHO FM. 

Her past appearances as narrator with Philharmonia Northwest include their 2017 performance of Peter and the Wolf, as well as the 2021 world premiere of The Goose Egg by Seattle composer Angelique Poteat.

Tickets are available online at philharmonianw.org – $30 adult, $20 for seniors/students, and $10 children under 18. They will also be for sale at the box office.

This is the fifth of six concerts in Philharmonia Northwest’s 2022-23 season. The final concert, Perspectives: FaurĂ© and Hagen – a collaboration with Kirkland Choral Society – will take place April 23 at Edmonds Center for the Arts. (Please note, this concert has been rescheduled from April 22-23 at Bastyr University)



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Garden Guy: New plants for 2023 to start dreaming about now

Monday, March 13, 2023

Bruce Bennett, Garden Guy
By Bruce Bennett

New plants are usually improvements on existing plants and offer better disease resistance, or more flowers or larger leaves, or……Well, you get the picture.
 
Sometimes it’s just a new color or a different size. New plants aren’t always better, but, to a gardener, they are always exciting and noteworthy. 

As in past several years, I offer readers a very short list of plant introductions that I’ve seen at test sites, growers’ fields and nurseries, not to mention the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival, plants which will begin to show-up at local garden centers. 

The problem with most ‘new introduction’ lists is the plants may be just coming on the market and finding them is a catch-as-catch-can situation. If nothing else, gardening teaches someone new to the hobby and adventure the development and virtues of patience. 

Gardeners not only experience the ‘thrill-of-the-hunt,’ if they wait long enough, they also experience the thrill of ‘saving a buck.’ The $50 daylily I just had to have from a specialty hybridizer eventually appeared on a Flower World display table at $15. It was definitely a case of instant gratification over-powering my economic common sense (and, yes, it was worth it). 

Whether or not I buy, it’s always fun to see what plant breeders have come up with and imagine where I would place it in my yard or a client’s.

During my travels, I look for plants that have more than just one reason to purchase them

A long bloom time is great, but I’d also want, drought-tolerance, or new colors or evergreen status. Considering what plants, especially new ones, cost these days, I want as many enhancements as can be added. 

So, for your general consideration, here's my thumbnail list of new plant introductions with multiple notable attributes, from the major plant groups of trees, shrubs, perennials and, even, an annual which may pique your developing horticultural interest…..

As trees have a longer development phase, not as many new stars reach the marketplace each year as do, say, annuals. However, that doesn’t mean there are no new candidates. 

New specimens that have caught my eye include….

Crabapple
I thoroughly like crabapple trees in the landscape.
They are of a size that is appropriate for most yards and street sides and are moderately fast growers. This year, Malus transitoria ‘Royal Raindrops’ joins the family. This crabapple has multiple aspects about it to like. The first is deep purple cutleaf foliage that does not move to a green coloration during the season. 

For those who eschew the use of chemicals in the yard, this sweetie has superior disease resistance to rust, mildew, etc. Like most established crabapples, ‘Royal Raindrops’ is drought tolerant. With our summers, that is a good thing. The value-added elements of this tree bookmark the growing season. Spring brings with it eye-popping magenta pink blooms that cover the tree. Autumn brings with it little red apples. 

As the fruit are just ¼” in size, birds will love them and will provide homeowners with a month or two of avian aerial aerobics as the birds devour the seasonal morsels. The two- and four-footed members of the family enough the free show for weeks on end. 

Honorable Mentions go to: Birch ‘Emerald Flare’, Parrotia ‘Golden Bell Tower’ and Cercis ‘Black Pearl.’

In the category of new shrubs, you can usually find something interesting to grace an underused spot in the landscape. For this year, what has spoken to me ……

Daphnes
Daphnes are always a value-added inclusion to an area near the front door or along a walkway.
 

The mid-winter fragrance of winter daphne is not to be missed. The same can be said for the spring-blooming cousins. 

In this case, the winter variety, Daphne odora ‘Perfume Princess’ is the one I came across. This long-blooming cultivar, with purplish buds and clusters of soft pink flowers, is a winner. 

Expect the traditional intoxicating daphne fragrance but with distinct citrus undertones. The Princess grows to about 3’ tall and as wide. Honorable Mentions include: Hibiscus ‘Valentine’s Crush’ (Rose Mallow), Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Cherry-Go-Round’ and Ilex verticulata ‘Gold Winterberry’

In the world of new Perennials, among the many that caught my eye……

Salvia greggli
Salvia greggii ‘Ultra Violet’ is a new hybrid western sage
that is more cold hardy than the standards. 

It is also more compact than so many of the S. greggii that are on the market. It has iridescent, deep purple flowers that add a pop of color to the yard, especially in ta late summer garden. 

It starts blooming in July and will continue through autumn. This 18” x 24” sage is a top perennial for dry sites, establishes easily and is both rabbit and deer resistant. Watch as it attracts bees, butterflies and other pollinators. 

Honorable Mentions include: Euphorbia x ‘Miner’s Merlot’, Veronica prostrata (Creeping Speedwell) ‘Aztec Gold’ and Sedum ‘Little Shine.’

Finally, in the Annuals category, ……..

Rex Begonia
Jurassic Heartbeat
I am not a gardener who usually has an interest in annuals, but I couldn’t resist adding this Rex Begonia ‘Jurassic Heartbeat’ because…. well, just look at it! Whether on a shelf in the house or in a shady outdoor container, this amazing plant will be a ‘WOW’ moment for any who see it

There are so many plants which will be vying for your attention at garden centers and nurseries this year. Remember to look past the first visual impression they give you. What other value-added qualities can they provide to you, the landscape and/or the beneficial insects who inhabit your yard? 

A bit of observation and Google research will help to provide you with the best bang for your horticultural buck. 

Happy gardening! If you have a question about this column or your own landscape, or care to suggest a topic to be discussed, contact Master Gardener, Bruce Bennett, at gardenguy4u@gmail.com.



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Gloria's Birds: Identified my first Barrow's Goldeneye the other day on Lake Washington (which, for this photog, counts as a banner day:)

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

These two are a female and male taking off. 

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Startling here is how the couple synchronizes their wing positions!

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

ID stuff: He has more white markings, and an all-black beak. Hers is orange!



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Worm moon and the end of winter

Friday, March 10, 2023

Worm moon photo by Lee Wolfe

This was the Worm Moon on Tuesday morning, March 7, 2023.

“The Worm Moon is the moon for March, and for some, it takes its name from the fact that earthworms begin to reappear around this time of year, bringing birds back out to feed. It signals the end of winter and the start of regrowth in nature.”

Photographer Lee Wolfe says "I’m all for the end of winter!" So say we all.



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Climate Action Shoreline: Interview with a Local Naturalist

By Diane Lobaugh

I love being involved in my neighborhood and city. There are so many good people that live and work and are growing up here. A city or community flourishes with good folks in government, but also with a lot of people, of all ages and backgrounds, that look out for their neighborhoods, schools, trees, people, streams, gardens, and wildlife.

This month I interviewed a wonderful woman who lives here in Shoreline, whose life is discovering and teaching about our natural world.


Julie Luthy photo by Diane Lobaugh

Meet Julie Luthy
. Julie has always been a naturalist and shares her love of the outdoors with people all around her. I met Julie through a mutual friend who knew about her work in our community. Julie became part of Climate Action Shoreline and helped write our brochure on daily climate actions.

“I encourage people to go outside and slow down, looking and listening carefully. Nature is dynamic and to notice the changes is a gift we give ourselves and to those we share it with.”

What lives in a tide pool?
Photo by Julie Luthy
Julie was born and raised in Wisconsin. She worked for nature centers, national parks and forests in Washington, Wisconsin, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Alaska. 

She moved to Washington State to work in Olympic National Park and attend WWU where she received a master’s degree in environmental education. She fell in love with the Northwest and has built her life here.

In Washington Julie has worked in city parks and schools. She currently works with preschoolers through 5th graders in and outside of schools. 

She loves leading students on walking field trips so they can learn about their own neighborhoods and can connect with what lives around them, their parks and streams and forests. 

Julie gives her students homework but not a due date. She says: “For the rest of your life I want you to notice plants blooming, worm castings, birds singing.”

Julie also teaches parents and teachers, encouraging us to slow down with children, and to share in their excitement of discovery. This will in turn encourage more close observation and can develop into a lifelong relationship with nature.

Local heron photo by Diane Lobaugh

Julie understands that young people need to feel a connection to the earth before we can ask them to save it. 

She says to let them love it first. And it is not necessary to know the names of everything we see. We can get outside, stop and listen, notice and start asking questions together. Who ate the seeds out of this cone? Who is that singing?

As a scientist Julie asks her students lots of questions and encourages them to notice and think. She asks her youngest students: what do worms, and potato bugs need to survive?

With 5th graders Julie explains the difference between weather and climate. And discusses global climate change, and the science behind it. 

She talks about watershed runoff, the wetlands around us and why we see changes. Julie asks her students what may be causing the changes. Her students work in groups to develop an environmentally friendly community. 

She asks them what they can do, today, to preserve the wetlands or protect the insects or not pollute the air. She also shares the climate action brochure to bring home.

Native Douglas squirrel photo by Julie Lothy
I love thinking about the many lives that Julie has touched, including mine. 

I imagine the circle of preschoolers watching Julie light up as she talks about potato bugs and how snake jaws work and how much she loves a Douglas squirrel that lives in her backyard.

Julie lives not too far from one of her schools, just through the trees. The teacher sometimes tells her students that Julie lives over there, pointing to the trees. 

Julie could read on their faces that they thought maybe she lives in the forest. I think she does… the land, the trees, the air and rain and plants and insects are her neighbors, her home.

Thank you, Julie. I am glad that we will see you in the neighborhood.

Diane Lobaugh (with Julie's help)
~~~
Past Shoreline Area News articles based on the pamphlet from Climate Action Shoreline: Start Over Every Sunday, Fossil Fuel Free Friday, Supportive Saturday, What is Climate?, Thinking about our World Community, Ending war is a climate issue. View them here



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Senate passes Salomon bill to protect marine shoreline habitats

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Sen. Jesse Salomon
OLYMPIA – Legislation to help protect shoreline habitats in Washington passed the Senate with bipartisan support Tuesday.

Senate Bill 5104, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Salomon (D-32), (and co-sponsored by Sen. Derek Stanford (D-1) directs the state Department of Ecology (DOE) to conduct a survey of Puget Sound marine shorelines using new technology to better determine where to prioritize habitat restoration and protection actions.

By June 30, 2024, the bill requires DOE to conduct and maintain a baseline survey of Puget Sound marine shorelines using new technology to capture 360-degree on-the-water imagery. The on-the-water view would be similar to Google street view, with private information blurred. 

This data will be used to address limitations, help identify restoration sites and structures in bad condition, assist with orca recovery and assess shoreline changes over time.

“Washington is one of the most beautiful states in our nation, and we need to do everything we can to protect our ecosystems. An accurate and up-to-date shoreline survey will help us determine how to prioritize protection and restoration of our shorelines,” Salomon said. 
“We need to address the current information gaps in order to understand where critical habitat exists, where development exists and where restoration needs to happen.”

The survey to document and map existing shoreline conditions, structures and structure conditions must be completed by June 2025. The information from the surveys will be available to the public and incorporated into state geographic information system mapping and updated on a regular two-year cycle. 

The survey includes Puget Sound shorelines and related inland marine waters, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Hood Canal and the San Juan Islands.

“We are quickly running out of time in the race to save Puget Sound,” said Amy Carey from Sound Action. 
“Without baseline surveys, recovery and nearshore protection efforts have been missing a critical tool in the fight. This bill will change that, giving shoreline planners, nonprofits and other stakeholders the up-to-date information they need to recover the marine food web — including forage fish, marine birds, salmon and the endangered Southern Resident orcas.”

This bill is now headed to the House for consideration.



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For the Birds: Cold Is Here - Will You Help Our Birds?

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Black-capped Chickadee keeping warm by
creating an insulating air barrier. Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

Cold and snow are hard on birds, especially since much of their native dense habitats have been destroyed by development, making it hard for them to find shelter, food, and water.

Trees, especially tall evergreens, give them places to hunker down during cold and windy weather. 

Trees are usually the first to feel the cut of progress, followed by diversion of water.

Over three billion birds have vanished in North America, mostly due to habitat loss. 

Habitat can mean the difference between life and death.

If you see a bird all fluffed up, it is trying to stay warm by creating warm air pockets around its body with its feathers.

We need to help birds (and other pollinators and wildlife) by providing food, shelter, and usable water, especially during cold weather.

Varied Thrush getting fast energy from suet.
Photo by Christine Southwick
Suet provides the fastest calories for needed warmth.

Suet and good quality seeds can provide that margin between survival and death.

Feeders offer quick, certain sources of calories, allowing birds to conserve their calories for warmth, not expending energy searching for their next meal.

Watch your feeders for clumping of seeds during damp weather.

If seeds clump, throw the seed out and wash the feeders with 10% bleach, rinse well, and dry before filling (a second feeder would be helpful); during times of fog and heavy moisture only filling feeders half full will help keep the seeds from molding. 

Yes, it’s more work, but the birds are worth it.

Spotted Towhee and Song Sparrow eating seed
below feeder. Photo by Christine Southwick
If you feed hummingbirds, winter is an important time to feed them. 

Anna’s Hummingbirds eat more bugs than any other North American hummingbird, but freezing temperatures kill the bugs, so nectar is very important. 

They need lots of quick energy early in the morning, and late into the evening. 

A feeder heater or an incandescent light near a feeder will allow them to come whenever they want to, especially for a much-needed early visit.

Fox Sparrow using much needed liquid water
maintained by bird bath heater.
 Photo by Christine Southwick
Water is hard to find since so many creeks and rivulets have been buried or diverted into drainpipes.

For liquid water, invest in a birdbath warmer.

Give our birds a fighting chance. 

Create shelter, with evergreen shrubs and trees, and safe places for them to nestle down (Don’t poison their habitat with pesticides).

Provide liquid water and food especially during the winter, and they will reward you with bubbly songs and bug elimination the rest of the year.

Bonus article: A simple 7 ways to help birds www.3billionbirds.org 


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An Afternoon of Poetry and Tea at Dunn Gardens with Seattle-born poet Mary Pinard

Friday, February 24, 2023

Cozy up with a cup of tea for a late winter poetry reading in Ed’s Cottage in Dunn Gardens on Thursday, March 9, 2023 from 1-3pm. 

Dunn Gardens are just south of 145th and west of Greenwood at 13533 Northshire Rd NW, Seattle 98177

We’ll have a fire in the dining room, the tea brewing, and cocoa apple cake for you to enjoy while listening to the poems of Mary Pinard. 

Come early or stay late to see early signs of spring in the Gardens. Poet Mary Pinard is visiting from Boston, where she regularly visits Olmsted parks in the area.

Mary Pinard is the author of two books of poetry, Portal (2014), and Ghost Heart (2022), which won the 2021 Ex Ophidia Press Prize for Poetry. Her play, Heart/Roots County, was published by Volland Press during the summer of 2022. 

Over the last 15 years, she has collaborated with several visual artists and musicians in the Boston area, where her poems have been variously incised in glass (“Fragment House,” Slocum River Reserve, Dartmouth, MA), shaped in wire (“Lineage,” Old Frog Pond Farm, Harvard, MA), adhered to an exhibit wall (“Breaking Prairie,” Hollister Gallery, Babson College), and set to music (“On the Wing: A Celebration of Birds in Words and Music,” performed at several New England venues).

She teaches literature and poetry courses in the Arts and Humanities Division at Babson College, where she has been a member of the faculty since 1990. She was born and raised in Seattle. For more information visit her website: https://marypinard.com/

Cost: Members: $5, Not-yet-members: $10

Information and tickets here: https://dunngardens.org/event/poetry-tea-with-mary-pinard/


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Gloria's Birds: Sometimes only a bite will do,

Monday, February 20, 2023

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

thought Ted the Trumpeter Swan as he expressed his irritation at Sid for getting too close...
 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(No swans were hurt, and Sid moved on. At Lake Washington the other day.)

--Gloria Z. Nagler


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Gloria Nagler photo featured in The Seattle Times

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Stealth seagull. Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Not for the first time, a photo by Gloria Nagler has been selected for publication in The Seattle Times Pacific Magazine. 

Readers will know that Gloria's photos of birds and insects and her charming captions appear several times a week on our pages.





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For the Birds: A Winter Warbler, if you plant for them

Saturday, February 4, 2023

Yellow-rumped Warbler in winter plumage.
Photo by Peggy Bartleson
By Christine Southwick

Hearing an unfamiliar “chip” from several birds, I stopped what I was doing and looked around. 

Imagine my surprise and delight to spot several Yellow-rumped Warblers flying out for bugs and using my suet feeders. 

Hocking for bugs, these little somewhat winter-drab warblers were moving around from tree branch to bush branch, and back, occasionally catching a bug on the wing. 

What a show, after I finally focused my binoculars on a couple. 

I also used the Merlin app to ID their chipping calls to confirm my identification.

Our area has two forms of the Yellow-rumped Warbler: the mostly year-round Audubon Yellow-rumped Warbler, and the mostly passing-through in the winter-time Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler. 

Photo by Yukari Yoshioka at Grace Cole Park
in Lake Forest Park
The Audubon form has a yellow throat, and the Myrtle form has a white throat (easiest distinguisher)

Warblers have two distinct plumages, called “alternate plumage”. 

This adaptation provides them with bright breeding plumage in the spring, and a duller easier-to-hide winter plumage when there is less foliage in which to conceal their yellow markings.

In the spring these brownish warblers with their colored throats and some white on their wings (Audubons usually have more than Myrtles), turn into smart-looking black, charcoal gray with white patches, and bright yellow rumps (which are often hard to see in the winter plumage).

Photo by Yukari Yoshioka at Grace Cole Park
 in Lake Forest Park
Because of their ability to feast on a wide variety of food, these yellow-rumped seem to be holding their own, population-wise, if we humans don’t poison all the bugs they eat.

They eat spruce budworm, bark beetles, weevils, aphids, caterpillars and other larvae. 

In the winter they eat bugs, fruits and berries like juniper and dogwood berries, including being the only birds that can digest wax myrtle berries. 

This is one of the reasons these warblers can stay so much farther north than most other warblers.

Bird baths during the summer
Photo by Chris Southwick
During winter times they also eat weed seeds, and come to feeders that have sunflower seeds, small fruits like raisins and blueberries, peanut butter, and suet.

Pesticides and herbicides are bad for the earth, our own breathing, and for all the birds and amphibians that rely on bugs to survive. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird Trends has found a sharp decline in American Robins, which rely on ground bugs and worms.
 
Plant native shrubs for the birds, especially warblers like these yellow-rumped, and put out suet and seeds. Add some liquid water, and your yard will be a welcome oasis year round.



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Gloria's Birds: Hocus pocus -- First there is a bill, then there is none!

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Now you see it
Photo by Gloria Z. Nagler

Now you don't!
Photo by Gloria Z. Nagler
And what a bill! Longer than the bird itself. I'm often moved by how hard birds like this Wilson's Snipe work for their daily sustenance.

--Gloria Z. Nagler


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Backyard Birds: The Tweet

Saturday, January 21, 2023

 
Photo by Jan Hansen

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Gloria's Birds: The three pals showed up eagerly for ballet auditions...

Friday, January 13, 2023

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler
 
Swan Lake would be opening soon!

(Well, maybe Ring-billed Gull Lake, eh?)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Gloria's Birds: Hey gang, git over here!

Thursday, January 5, 2023

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Photog's doin' complimentary portraits for any boid wid a crest!
(Sally the Steller's Jay, putting on her version of a Chicago accent to please photog, a native thereof:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Gloria's Birds: He liked to croon Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve...

Saturday, December 31, 2022

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(Willie the American Wigeon fancied himself a ringer for ol' Blue Eyes... except Willie would be ol' Blue Beak:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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For the Birds: Hummers need winter nectar

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Feeder under eave with trouble light keeping it
 and the area warm Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

When the winter cold temperatures start making the hummingbird feeders freeze up, it is time for extra attention. 

Because of their high metabolism hummingbirds always have a thin margin between adequate nutrition and starvation, especially when insects are scarce.

“Anna's hummingbirds eat more insects than any other North American hummingbird, and this may help them in bad weather. 
"It is thought that Anna's hummingbirds are able to spend the winter so far north because they eat more insects and spiders than most hummingbirds.”  kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/annas-hummingbird 

As long as there are no cats, putting a feeder
under shelter can keep nectar warmer.
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Anna’s are able to eat spiders and bugs wedged in crevices to supplement their instant nectar shots. These little smarties know where to look, but ice makes it hard to get to them.

To help conserve their energy, Anna’s Hummingbirds are able to down-shift their metabolism by entering “torpor” where heart rate and body temperature are reduced to a bare minimum of about 40 beats per minute (down from 400) and body temp about 48F (down from 107F).

Many other hummingbird species do this, like the ones in the Andes.

When temperatures get below 30 degrees people with hummingbird feeders need to keep them from freezing. 

One way is to bring them in at night, but Anna’s feed very early in the morning, often before sunrise, because our long northern nights make it too long to wait any longer, so you need to put them out early, early. 

Rotating a couple of feeders throughout the day works but requires diligence.

Anna's Hummer on covered
heated feeder. Photo by Mary
Another way to keep the feeders from freezing is to put the feeder under an eave and shine an incandescent light near it to keep the feeder area warm, or one can buy a hummingbird feeder heater.

Adding a baffle over a feeder will keep the snow and ice off the feeder ports, protect the hummers, and keep the feeder a little warmer during the cold. 

Hand warmers and incandescent Christmas light work marginally, but not down into the teens.

It is important to clean your feeders about once a week during cold weather.

Keep the nectar solution at four-parts water to one-part cane sugar. Don’t believe the myth that the ratio should be changed in cold weather.

These little bundles of energy bring us delight as we watch them zipping around. Help keep them alive by keeping their nectar liquid during cold spells.



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