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SBTH Newsletter Volume 1, Number 1 Aug. 2002 Our Mission Statement: "To protect, enhance and restore habitat for North American birds and to educate people of all ages to do the same." From Our President: Dear Members, Wow! What a truly remarkable year! Saving Birds Thru Habitat has moved from concept to reality in just twelve months. Our mission and objectives are being embraced and supported by many bird lovers. We are proud of our newly formed membership, which now stands officially at 122. Welcome aboard. Our achievements this past year include organizing under new by-laws, achieving non-profit status as a 501(c)3 organization, a successful membership drive and fund raising activities to support operations and a building fund. The organization has gained notable recognition through the media from TV, radio, magazines and newspapers. We are thankful for the generous donations and grants received. This impressive success has been realized through the hard work of many volunteers, commitment of our new members, and the clear guidance and planning by our Board of Directors. We are also blessed with the vision, talent and dedication of our Executive Director, Kay Charter. Of course none of this would be possible without the commitment of Jim and Kay Charter. They are consumed with this mission and have made the entire effort possible by providing the Charter Sanctuary as the focus for on-site habitat work and the opportunity to imprint the habitat message through enlightening bird walks. Significantly, the Charters have donated a 2½ acre parcel of land as the future site of the Habitat Discovery Center. As we move ahead into the coming year our main goal will be to erect and open the Habitat Discovery Center. This will allow us to better carry out our mission of Saving Birds. We are looking forward to your continuing support. With best wishes and great birding into the future, - Marlin Bussey, President - From the Director’s Desk by Kay Charter As noted by our President, Saving Birds has made tremendous progress it its first year. In mid-May, we were awarded a fifteen hundred dollar grant from the Massachusetts-based French Foundation for the purchase of binoculars for visiting school and camp groups. With additional assistance from Eagle Optics in the form of greatly reduced prices, we were able to order 35 pairs of 6 x 42 Triumphs. Although the Triumphs were especially designed for use by children, they work very well for adults who do not have binoculars when they come to tour Charter Sanctuary. Also in May, we were able to open our building fund with a two thousand dollar donation from member Janet Wander of Suttons Bay in memory of her late husband, Keith. Members of the local chapter of the Sons of Norway added an additional two hundred dollars for the fund and on July 15, the Leelanau Township Community Foundation granted five thousand dollars. A garage sale on July 19 & 20 added more than two thousand dollars. An additional five thousand dollar pledge by Arthur and Maxine Summerfield of Suttons Bay provides us with enough funds to complete Phase 1 of the Habitat Discovery Center project. Preliminary drawings for the Center were provided by Tim Dunbar of O’Fallon, Illinois and a complete set of working blueprints was made from those drawings by Jim May of Salisbury and May Contractors of Traverse City. Both Tim and Jim graciously donated their work. Letters of support for our grant request to the Leelanau Township Community Foundation came from David Mizejewski of the National Wildlife Federation, Ted Williams, editor-at-large of Audubon Magazine, Greg Butcher of Partners-in-Flight, Craig Czarnecki of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Al Ammons, Supervisor of Leelanau State Park and Phil Heller, winner of Northport Public School’s Teacher of the Year award. Additional support came from Bud Summerfield of Suttons Bay. Thanks to all who helped in our efforts. Over the next months, we will be seeking additional funding from the Leelanau Township Community Foundation, as well as from other foundations and private sources. We welcome any donations from you, our members, for your Habitat Discovery Center. Checks for the Center should be made out to the Leelanau Township Community Foundation (or LTCF), memo: Habitat Discovery Center. The Foundation is managing this fund on behalf of SBTH. As many of you know, Omena celebrated its Sesquicentennial in July of this year. The celebration was capped by a great parade through the streets of our little village. The parade was kicked off by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flyover and included more than fifty entries. One of those was a Saving Birds Thru Habitat float, which used cedar trees, high bush cranberry, cattails and other live plants to illustrate natural habitats for birds. No organization like this can succeed without volunteers. Our work at Saving Birds would not have carried us to this point without the dedicated assistance of several special individuals. Thanks to Carol Ross, who spent one of her precious days off establishing orderly files from chaos, and to float designers and builders, Ralph and Nancy Kalchik, Pat Bussey and Jim Charter. For the success of our sale, thanks goes to Ralph and Nancy Kalchik, Pat Bussey, Bobbie Poor, Jim Charter and all those who donated goods and baked products. And a special thanks goes to Nancy Kalchik for her help with mailings. Our outreach and educational programs have been popular and very well accepted. Since we organized last year, twenty four civic, library, conservation and school groups in six states have attended our Director’s slide program, "Meet the Other Birds in Your Yard." And numerous school and camp groups as well as garden and hiking clubs have visited the sanctuary to learn how to create habitat for birds. Two public presentations are scheduled for October. The first will be at the Traverse City Library on Thursday, October 3 and the second will be hosted by the Birmingham Audubon Club. That event will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 1589 W. Maple Road, Birmingham, Michigan. Mark Your Calendar: SBTH Member’s Mingle Will Be Held on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 2 - 4 PM. Please take this time to join us at Charter Sanctuary for a couple of hours to meet other members, watch birds, discuss habitat and compare backyard notes. Refreshments will be served and habitat handouts will be available. 
All Hail, Mighty Traveler: A Look at the Phenomenal Ruby-throated Hummingbird by Greg Butcher, Midwest Coordinator, Partners in Flight The Ruby-throated Hummingbird accomplishes one of the most astonishing feats in the avian world: Each year most members of the species fly nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of about 600 miles. At first, scientists couldn't believe that such a small bird could make such a long nonstop journey, but in the 1950s, ornithologists proved that it was possible. So our job here in the Midwest is to send them on their way fat and happy in the fall and to welcome them with needed nutritional support in the spring. The traditional way to feed hummingbirds is with a sugar-water feeder (four parts boiling water to one part sugar), but hummers may actually prefer flowers. Ruby-throats are attracted to a wide variety of flowering plants, but you will improve your odds if you plant at least some with red blossoms as well as some tubular blossoms, which fit the birds' bills. Select plants that bloom at different times of the year, to increase your chances of attracting hummers from May through September. (The birds will be in Latin America or en route from October through April.) You can also set out ripe fruits; hummingbirds appreciate the fruit flies. If you also offer nectar, use only the home made variety and keep the supply fresh. We think of the Ruby-throat as a bird of yards and gardens, but this species originally inhabited forests and forest openings. Even today, Ruby-throats prefer to nest in mature trees, so you may not keep them all summer long unless you have big trees nearby. Wooded streams are the most common breeding habitat for these fascinating little birds. Conservation for them should concentrate on saving wet, wooded habitats. Most people see these mighty travelers primarily in spring (May), late summer (mid-July through August), or fall (September). Keep your feeders up until well after Labor Day. Ruby-throats will not be held up by the easy availability of nectar; they know when to fly south. In fact, if you have a hummer at your feeder after September, the odds are that it's NOT a Ruby-throat, but rather a lost hummingbird from Mexico, Arizona, or the West Coast. Take a close look, and call a local bird expert if the bird looks unfamiliar. Back-yard Bird Sanctuary in an Urban Desert by Judy Kinder-Scott Although we live very near the heart of Tucson, our yard has become an oasis for birds in an increasingly developed urban setting in the Arizona desert. This oasis grew from a dry, pebble covered wasteland to a lush bird-friendly garden largely through being neglected for about twenty-five years. During that time, volunteer rhus lancea, lantana, mesquite and Palo Verde trees sprouted and grew to provide habitat for our avian visitors and residents. We’ve had nesting Northern Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxia, Cactus Wren, Verdin, Curve-billed Thrashers and Lucy’s Warblers in our yard. Gamble’s Quail lead their fluffy chicks under our fence to pick through native seeds and Green-tailed Towhees have visited the small brush pile we created at the back. Several years ago, we added a water feature and today Arizona honeysuckle meanders along the pond, providing brilliant yellow blossoms for Anna’s and Costa’s Hummingbirds. Fairy Duster spikes its red blooms behind the waterfall, also providing nectar for hummers and Verdin. Aloe plants and a variety of cacti add variety to our native habitat yard and the milkweed that we once tried to exterminate is now treasured as a needed butterfly plant. The milkweed and Mexican night primrose have allowed the butterfly population to increase greatly. In addition to our resident birds, we have had wonderful visitors, including Lazuli Buntings, Northern Parulas, Lesser Goldfinches, Western Tanagers, Scott's Orioles, Cedar Waxwings and a rare Yellow Grosbeak. The abundant bird life has attracted the occasional Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks; and a Great Blue Heron occasionally comes to help himself to the goldfish we planted in our pond. By the use of native plantings and a little water, our yard has become an example of what backyard habitat can mean to desert avifauna. Gifts and Memorials: Saving Birds will gratefully accept memorial gifts as well as donations in honor of birthdays, anniversaries and other special events. Sibley Appearance: Noted bird artist and author David Allen Sibley will be at Traverse City on Tuesday, October 15 to sign his newest book which is about birding basics. He will also make a library appearance at 7:00PM that evening Call the Traverse Area District Library at 231-932-8500 for details. |
