Fenner Nature Center's Maple Syrup Festival

Celebrate Spring’s Return at Fenner Nature Center’s

MAPLE SYRUP FESTIVAL

Saturday & Sun March 20 & 21, 11am to 4pm

After an especially long and cold winter, the occurrence of this year’s vernal equinox is something to celebrate. Fenner’s annual event features more stuff to do than ever!

Here are some of the FREE activities planned:

~Maple syrup demonstrations

~Guided bird walks

~Nesting box exhibit

~Wildlife artists and crafters

~Face-painting and kids’ crafts

~More food and drink, including maple sugar products, for sale

Bring your family and friends, and don’t forget the camera!

For more information go to Friends of Fenner Nature Center’s website, http://fenner.homestead.com/events/maple_syrup.html, call (517) 483-4224 or email mailto:fncdirectors@gmail.com.

Fenner Nature Center

2020 E. Mt. Hope (at Aurelius)

Lansing, MI 48910

Category › Family Fun , Fenner Nature Center

Sharing The Joy of Bird Feeding

The delight of seeing so many active and energetic birds at your feeders makes feeding the birds a real joy during this time of the year.

That joy is available to everyone. By providing just a few simple things, such as fresh foods, clean water and shelter, the birds in your yard will bring you many hours of happiness and fulfillment.

Spring is a great time to watch the different types of birds at your feeders. Woodpeckers are busy eating mouthfuls of suet. Juncos hurriedly scour the ground for millet. Finches squabble at the finch feeder. Jays raucously steal peanuts and nuthatches industriously horde sunflower seeds. New faces pop up every day. Some staying for the summer nesting and some just taking a much needed break on the way to their final stop.

Bird feeding is a fun and educational hobby, and this is the season to share it with everyone. With Easter and Mother's Day fast approaching you should stop by the Wild Birds Unlimited store for the best seed and answers to any wild bird questions. You'll also see the newest baths, feeders, and nature gifts available to help introduce this wonderful hobby to your friends and family.

Category › Bird Basics

The Crocus Have Peeped Out

I think Spring might be springing here. The snow melted next to the front of the house and the Crocus woke up to sing Hello. It makes me feel so happy to see the plants come back.
P.Z. in Lansing, MI

Category › Friday Photo

Choosing the Right Purple Martin House

Purple Martin Progne subis
Order: PASSERIFORMES Family: Swallows (Hirundinidae)

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Description:

The largest of the North American swallows, Purple Martins have glossy, purple-black plumage. Adult females are less colorful, with gray necks, foreheads, and underparts, but nearly as purple on their backs as adult males. A group of purple martins are collectively known as a "colony" of martins. Native Americans hung up empty gourds for these birds to nest in before Europeans arrived in North America and now Martins nest almost exclusively in birdhouses.

General:

The most successful occupancy occurs when the houses are placed within 100’ of human houses and at least 40’ away from tree lines, in full sun most of the day, and usually near water. A height of 12’ to 20’ for mounting a purple martin house is recommended so the birds can make a grand swooping entrance and exit from their house.
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When choosing a Purple Martin house, be sure that it has the following features:

• Easy access for monitoring and cleaning.

• A light color exterior.

• Starling resistant entrance hole with height dimension 1 & 3/16"
• A compartment size of at least 6” x 6” x 6.”

• Pole that allows the house to be raised and lowered.

• Adequate ventilation and drainage.

• Made from rainproof and durable materials.

Behavior:

Purple Martins live in colonies, and their social antics can result in an endlessly entertaining summer. They often will dive and swirl around in the sky as they feed in flight upon flying insects such as wasps, moths, flies, grasshoppers, and bees. They also eat mosquitoes but perhaps not as many as rumored. In late spring adult males will perform the "Dawn Song" singing loudly while soaring high above the colony to attract other birds.

To track the Purple Martins as they migrate from South America to Michigan go to purplemartin.org.
Or for more information visit:
http://www.michiganmartins.com/ or
The Purple Martin Conservation Association (PMCA) -http://www.purplemartin.org/index.html

Category › Bird of the week , Product Highlight

How Do I Attract Purple Martins?

Ten Reasons Why People Fail to Attract Purple Martins

by James R. Hill, III, Purple Martin Conservation Association

Over one million North Americans maintain housing for Purple Martins. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of these folks successfully attract breeding martins. Below is a list of the top ten reasons why so many people fail.

1. House placed too close to tall trees or in yards that are too enclosed. The Martin house must have the correct habitat and be placed in the proper place. There should be no trees taller than the martin housing within 40 Feet of it, preferably 60 feet. The farther the martin housing is placed from trees the better.
2. Landlord allows other bird species to claim the housing first. If any other species is allowed to settle into a martin house before martins at unestablished sites, those houses will rarely attract nesting martins. To attract martins to unestablished sites monitor the house and remove the nest of any bird other than the Purple Martin.
3. Housing placed too far from human housing. Research has shown that martin housing placed more than 120 feet from human housing has a lower chance of being occupied. This is because martins have “learned,” that the closer they nest to man, the safer they are from predators.
4. Housing not painted white. Although martins have been known to nest in houses and gourds painted other colors, white housing seems to attract them best.
5. Housing opened up too early. Most ‘would-be’ martin landlords rush to get their martin housing opened up so as not to miss the arrival of martin “scouts” in their particular area. This is 4-5 weeks too early for unestablished breeding sites!!! Opening a martin house too early (or leaving it open all winter) just results in instant occupancy by other birds. Prospective martin landlords should not open their housing until about four weeks after the first martins are scheduled to return to their area!
6. Failure to open the martin housing. In an effort to keep undesirable birds out of their martin housing, many ‘would-be’ martin enthusiasts leave all their entrance holes plugged ‘until the martins come around.’ This is a disastrous mistake at unestablished sites.
7. Vines and shrubs are allowed to grow up under the housing. Unoccupied martin housing that has tall bushes and shrubs around the base of the pole, or has vines growing up the pole, will rarely, if ever, attract breeding martins because it is much more accessible to predators, such as cats, raccoons, snakes, and squirrels.
8. Housing not really ‘built to specifications. A martin house must have compartments whose floor dimensions measure at least 6" x 6," but compartments measuring 7" x 12" are far superior. The entrance hole should be placed about 1" above the floor and have a diameter in the range of 2" to 2-1/4," although martins are known to use holes as small as 1-3/4."
9. Housing attached to wires, or placed too close to wires. Martins love to perch on wires, but they tend to avoid houses that are attached to wires or are placed within leaping distance of them.
10. Landlords buy or build housing that can’t be easily managed. Most people rush into the hobby not realizing that to properly manage for martins, they’ll need housing that allows for easy raising and lowering, and nest compartment access. Landlords need to vertically lower their housing often (sometimes daily) to evict nest-site competitors and to check on martin nestlings. Martin housing should be mounted on poles that telescope up and down.

Written by James R. Hill, III
Founder and Executive Director Emeritus
Purple Martin Conservation Association
For further information on Purple Martins please contact:
Purple Martin Conservation Association
301 Peninsula Dr., Suite 6
Erie, PA 16505
814-833-7656
info@purplemartin.org
http://www.purplemartin.org/

Category › Nature up close

How do I keep squirrels off my bird feeders?

Here are four ways to keep squirrels off your bird feeder:

1. Squirrel resistant feeders- The easiest way to feed the birds and not the squirrels is to have a squirrel resistant feeder. Now I know people come in to Wild Birds Unlimited all the time and say they don’t work, but ours do and most come with a lifetime guarantee! They are going to cost more than the cheap, “pretty” feeders the critters destroy every year, but they are easy to clean, easy to fill, backed by a lifetime guarantee, and the birds love them.
   
   
2. Seed selection- If you don’t want to invest in a new feeder, the next solution is to switch your seed to straight safflower seed. Safflower is a small, white seed that is high in protein and fat. The shape of the shell and the bitter taste makes this seed unattractive to starlings, blackbirds, and squirrels. While popular backyard birds including Cardinals, Chickadees, Blue Jays, House Finches, Mourning Doves, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice, and Nuthatches, savor safflower. Squirrels also avoid Nyger Thistle feeders which feed the Goldfinches.
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3. Baffles- Squirrels can jump 4-5 feet high and across 5-10 feet. A baffle will make it harder for the squirrels to reach the seed. There are several types of baffles that you can use too. You can put a baffle around a pole to stop them from reaching your feeder. Or you can buy a baffle that goes over your feeder that protects it from squirrels dropping down from the trees.
   
4. Hot pepper-I don't usually recommend this product. Mammals have receptors on their tongues that send messages (too hot!) when they eat hot peppers, but these receptors are missing in birds. “Squirrel Away™” is made from Capsicum peppers, known colloquially where they are grown as “bird peppers.” With “Squirrel Away™” treated bird seed in your bird feeders, a squirrel quickly learns not to visit and continues to find a new source of food. But you have to be careful because you are a mammal too and there is a caution on every bag about wearing gloves to protect yourself.

Category › Bird Basics , Question of the week

When Do Birds Migrate North?

Michigan is the home to over 400 species of birds. This includes birds that are here only in the winter, year-round, only in the spring and summer, and those that pass through Michigan to reach nesting ground further north and wintering ground further south.

Birds of Michigan by Ted Black is a good book to have around if you’re unsure of a bird’s timetable. It includes a range map and the status for each species in an average year.

You can also click here to view an earlier blog with informative websites. Below is a list of the most frequently asked about birds and their migratory arrivals and departures:

Bluebirds are year round in mid-Michigan and can begin scouting out possible nesting sites as early as January.
Robins are year round in mid-Michigan but you’ll see them more frequently in your yard~mid-February
Red Winged Blackbirds ~ Beginning of March
Sandhill Crane ~ March
Turkey Vulture ~ late March
Ruby-throated Hummingbird ~ April 15 (tax time)
Purple Martin ~ Mid April
White-crowned Sparrow & White-throated Sparrow~ pass through mid-Michigan from mid-April to late May. White-crowned is usually a week behind the White-Throated.
House wren ~ end of April
Baltimore Oriole ~ beginning in May
Warblers ~mid-May
Canada Goose ~ are year round in mid-Michigan shifting to nesting grounds March to May
Wood Duck ~ Mid-March
Tundra Swan ~ Not a Michigan resident. Migrates through late Feb. to mid-April.
Dark eyed Junco ~ leaves mid-MI end of May
Red-breasted Nuthatch ~ leaves mid-MI in May

Category › Quick fun Facts