Bird Blitz
Photo: H. LeStrange
On national birding "Big Day," JRMN volunteers led 9 bird walks at Powhatan State Park and invited park visitors to learn about bird songs, nests, and host plants for caterpillars that feed baby birds. They also displayed ideas for preventing window collisions and explained the risks posed by artificial nighttime lights during migration.
Photos: R. Reilly
In order to highlight the habitat needs of birds, JRMN volunteers brought caterpillars feeding on native host plants, the point being that bird feeders are not enough. Even seed-eating birds like chickadees and nuthatches must feed insects to their young. Inchworms, like the one in the photo above right, are perfect food for baby birds.
Photos: R. Reilly
According to a Smithsonian study, the windows of homes under 3 stories high, because they reflect images of trees and leaves, kill an estimated 250 million birds annually. Even if the bird is not killed immediately, it often sustains fatal injuries. JRMN volunteers brought models of three window adaptations that protect against window strikes. Adding paracord or adhesive strips or dots spaced no wider than 2-4 inches creates a visual barrier. A nearly invisible solution is stretching deer netting several inches in front of the glass, thereby providing a physical barrier that birds bounce off.
Visit the National Audubon Society website to find details and more ideas for preventing window strikes.
Photos: H. LeStrange
When visitors to Bird Blitz weren't taking guided bird walks, they could listen to one of Master Bander Dr. Bob Reilly's scheduled talks on the lives of chickadees and prothonotary warblers.
Photo: R. Reilly
Photo: H. LeStrange
Or they could make a bird craft, . . . take self-guided quizzes on bird songs and bird nests . . .
enter a nest box raffle . . .
Photo H. LeStrange
and pick up FREE native plants from the give-away tables.