Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Birds and Blooms Extra

A flash of orange had me racing to my living room window. I was ecstatic to find a Baltimore oriole happily munching on an orange half I had put out two days earlier. As I fumbled with my phone to gather photographic proof that an oriole chose my yard, the bird flew away, and the noodles I had been cooking on the stove boiled over. Determined to get a photo and a better glimpse of my backyard oriole, I grabbed my lunch and perched uncomfortably on the arm of the couch—the only spot in my living room with a direct view of the feeder—with my binoculars and phone nearby. There I sat, eyes glued to the feeder, bowl of noodles in hand. After about 30 minutes, the oriole was back!…

KEEP IT NATURAL Trees are key to luring red-bellieds to your yard. Alive or dead, trees provide plenty of places to forage or nest. Berry-producers like hawthorn and mountain ash are some favored food sources. Named for the hard-to-see, faint crimson color on their undersides, red-bellied woodpeckers are widespread in the eastern half of the United States. They’re more common in the southern states, but the species is on the move and the breeding range has extended north over the last century. With zebra-like stripes on their backs and wings, red-bellieds have a few look-alike relatives, such as the gila and golden-fronted woodpeckers of the Southwest. It’s thanks to one distinguishable characteristic—a red head—that these woodpeckers are frequently confused with the less common red-headed woodpecker species, which shows a full…

A year-round veggie garden is possible! “By choosing the right plants, putting them in the ground at the right time, and providing some protection, anyone can extend the season,” says Doug Oster, editor of the website Everybody Gardens. Try these techniques to keep your edibles growing longer. KEEP PLANTS COZY Row covers are fabric blankets used to protect crops from frost. Lay them directly on top of plants or “floated” over garden beds. “I use 11-gauge wire from the hardware store to make low hoops to support the row cover,” Doug says. “I’ve found keeping the hoops low, only a foot tall, gives the plants a better survival rate.” BUILD A MINI GREENHOUSE A mini hoop tunnel is like a small-scale greenhouse that shelters your crops in late fall into…

Thin black mask with white outline Medium size with a body length of about 6 inches Pale yellow belly Brown, occasionally ragged, short crest Waxy red tips on pointed wing feathers Bright yellow band on squared tail tip A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY Bohemian waxwings, found in the North and Northwest, are sometimes confused for their strikingly similar cedar waxwing cousins. A good way to tell the two species apart is to check the wing markings and tail base color. Bohemian waxwings have rusty red underneath the base of their tails and bold white wing markings in areas where the cedar waxwings are plain gray. Cedar waxwings are one of the few bird species that can survive on fruit alone for several months.…

Ruby Beet Juice Serves 2 (1 cup each) ¾ cup water ½ large beet, peeled and chopped (about ½ cup) ½ green apple, cored and chopped 3 whole carrots, peeled and chopped (about ¾ cup) 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger DIRECTIONS Place all ingredients in a blender and blend for 1 to 2 minutes until liquefied. Strain through a fine mesh sieve (optional). Green Ginger Juice Serves 2 (1 cup each) ¾ cup water ¼ cup fresh spinach 1 cup fresh kale, roughly chopped ½ green apple, chopped 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger DIRECTIONS Place all ingredients in a blender and blend for 1 to 2 minutes until liquefied. Strain through a fine mesh sieve (optional). NOTE Straining through cheesecloth or a…

WHY I LOVE IT In Cincinnati there’s a never-ending list of fun things to see and do. Whether you catch a Reds baseball game, explore the Museum Center at Union Terminal (a former train station built in art deco style), or learn about history at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center near the Ohio River, there’s plenty here to keep both locals and visitors busy indoors and out. SEE MORE BIRDS Make Otto Armleder Memorial Park one of your first stops. It’s in the middle of a migratory route, and visitors have spotted more than 200 bird species since the park opened in 2006, including indigo buntings, eastern meadowlarks, short-eared owls and prothonotary warblers. The Fernald Preserve has hundreds of acres of wetland, forest and grassland habitat. Spring Grove Cemetery…

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence.”—Robert Lynd 825,600 During the Butterfly Pavilion’s 2017 Milkweed Seed Giveaway, 825,600 seeds were distributed to guests of this Denver area hot spot. The goal was to get more people involved in the restoration of declining monarch habitat. 1 The first butterfly house in the U.S., Butterfly World in Florida, began on just 3 acres in 1988. It’s now the largest in the world with 10 acres of aviaries, botanical gardens and a butterfly farm. 2 Watch butterflies be released two times a day in the Wings of the Tropics exhibit at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Florida. Kids love the up-close moments with exotic species, such as morphos and owl butterflies. 1,000 More than…

1 Did you grow an unbelievably large fruit or vegetable this year? Share photos of your larger-than-life harvest with us! birdsandblooms.com/submit 2 Get involved in National Public Lands Day on Sept. 30. It’s a fee-free day when folks are encouraged to hike, explore or volunteer at local public lands. Visit neefusa.org for additional important information. 3 Make plans to kick off the fall season at the National Apple Harvest Festival in Biglerville, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 7-8 and 14-15.…

TOOLS FOR FORAGING Omnivorous red-bellied woodpeckers stick their barb-fringed tongues out 2 inches beyond their bills. This, and sticky spit, helps them pluck insects from deep crevices. FOOD SAVERS In autumn, red-bellied woodpeckers store seeds and nuts in cracks in tree bark. They go back to their hiding spots for an easy-to-find meal come winter. “One of my favorites is the red-bellied woodpecker. They are so beautiful and very loyal to my feeders year-round. I just love watching them and enjoy their calls.”Rebecca Granger BANCROFT, MICHIGAN…

Don’t Skip a Beet Tell your honey how much you love them in the punniest way possible. Beautifully illustrated card designs range from a handful of carrots to a bunch of beets. Order online at 1canoe2.com . Cards are $4.50 apiece. Team Veggie Turn your garden into a fashion statement with a quirky-cute A-line skirt. Plus, it has pockets! Get it for $60 at modcloth.com . A Can-Do Attitude If you’ve ever wanted to try canning salsas, pickles and fruits, this is your year! Head to freshpreserving.com to order an $80 kit to get started. It comes with a 21-quart water bath canner, a canning rack and a set of four essential utensils, including a jar funnel and lid lifter. Healthy Harvest Use your summer bounty in surprising ways with…

FEEDING TIME Add wispy yellow goldenrod to your backyard menu. It does double duty for wildlife—butterflies can’t resist the nectar, and birds devour the seeds in late fall. TO-DO LIST September Take a grandparent under your wing on Grandparents Day, Sept. 10. Make a bird feeder, plant a fall container or go on a nature walk. Pause to reflect in the garden and make a wish list for the future. It’s never too early to start planning for next year’s growing season. Keep your hummingbird feeders full (and clean) to lure migrants that have started their journeys south. They’re still on the lookout for nectar-rich plants and sugar water.…

COLOR COORDINATE Pair gold plants with cool-colored containers, like this blue one. 1 Everillo sedge CAREX OSHIMENSIS ZONES 5 TO 9 Sedges are perfectly happy in part sun and well-drained soil where their evergreen foliage shines. This Irish relative of older varieties Evergold and Everest makes an even brighter impact when planted in a container. Also try Bowles Golden sedge (Carex elata). Why we love it: Super easy to grow, Everillo starts off lime green in color but soon ripens to gold. 2 Gilty Pleasure gold-leaved toad lily TRICYRTIS FORMOSANA ZONES 5 TO 9 You’ll feel absolutely no guilt about growing the oval, pointed leaves of Gilty Pleasure. Spring foliage emerges golden and then softens as the year progresses. This Taiwanese plant thrives in moist soil in shade to part…

I have more than 200 flower varieties, but the Zack of all Trades daylily is one of my favorites. My mother and I drove about 100 miles to purchase this plant. It always makes me smile when it blooms. Judith Lindsey CINCINNATI, OHIO I plant several zinnias to attract butterflies (monarchs and tiger swallowtails are my favorite), but one day this male monarch was attracted to my butterfly bush. Although I photograph birds and butterflies often, a shot like this takes a lot of patience! I had to wait for the monarch to land in the perfect position to get the sky in the background. Linda Konz SCHUYLER, NEBRASKA Every summer in Maine, lupines grow wild and in great numbers. I love to photograph these beautiful flowers after it rains.…

Q How rare is an albino hummingbird? Maurita Denney CAMP VERDE, ARIZONA Kenn and Kimberly: A white hummingbird flitting around flowers is one of the most amazing sights in nature. True albinos are extremely rare, with only a few ever documented in the wild; they’re recognized by pure white feathers and pink eyes, bill and feet. Also rare but slightly more common are leucistic hummingbirds, which look all white or mostly white but have normal-colored eyes, bills and feet. Lack of pigment makes birds more vulnerable to predators, and they may not live as long as birds with normal colors. One or two white hummingbirds are reported somewhere practically every year, but the chances of seeing one in your own yard are probably less than one in a million. HOW…

SUPPLIES 12-in. vase with tapered neck Floral preservative (optional) Pruners or clippers 6 full stems of Hot Biscuits amaranth 5 stems of ProCut Bicolor or other bicolor sunflowers 6 stems of Chocolate or other dark sunflowers 8 branching stems of rudbeckia, such as Cherokee Sunset mix 8 stems of rudbeckia, such as Chim Chiminee mix 15 stems of millet ( Setaria macrostachya ) DIRECTIONS STEP 1: Fill the vase three-quarters full with water. Mix in floral preservative. Place the brown amaranth stems in the vase, cutting some shorter and leaving some longer, encouraging them to cascade over the edges so they create a loose foliage frame for the other ingredients. STEP 2: Add the bicolor sunflowers, nestling them in among the amaranth. STEP 3: Weave in the dark…

Find the Hummingbird In each issue, we hide a hummingbird like the one above left. In the July issue, we hid it on page 9. Enter at birdsandblooms.com/contests if you find it. We’ll draw winners to receive Birds & Blooms seeds. HIDDEN OBJECT GUIDELINES No purchase necessary to enter to win. Purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes is open to legal residents age 18 years or older of the U.S., its territories and possessions, or of Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec). Sweepstakes begins on August 2, 2017, and ends on October 4, 2017. Find official rules at birdsandblooms.com/contests . VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes sponsored by RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC. Contact Us! CUSTOMER CARE For subscriptions, renewals, gifts, payments, account info and inquiries: Email: customercare@birdsandblooms.com…