February, 2012

My weathermen are right outside my back window - white-throated sparrows arrived just before the cold snap and juncos right before the snow! They scratched around the leaves I left for insects under my 10ft X 50ft native forest edge designed to attract songbirds, along with colorful cardinals.

Turn on your speakers and see the short, informative video from the National Wildlife Federation called Why Garden for Wildlife? There are 6 short videos with additional information, including sustainable gardening practices.

This spring, plan to go beyond bird feeders and provide the native plants that our native wildlife needs to survive with some tips from Ecosystem Gardening Essentials.

I mimic nature in my yard, and Flora-Quest is an opportunity to see many spring native plants up close (see Nature "Stuff" below) with top botanists. Don't forget to make your habitat yard neighbor-friendly.

  - Toni,  Habitat Ambassador volunteer  www.backyardhabitat.info

+ Nature "Stuff"
-  Now-3/25, Franklin SWCD Native Plant, Tree and Fish Sale is listed in Frankly Speaking. Ask your County SWCD if they carry plants native to our region and if not, encourage them to do so!
-  Sat, 2/11, 8:30-4:30, Citizen Science Ohio Natural History Conference, agenda on page 3, ODOT Hilltop Conference Ctr, $25/$15 students, Columbus
-  Sat, 2/11, 10am, Back To Basics Pruning Concepts, Inniswood Metro Park, scroll down at Columbus Wild Ones, Westerville
-  Thurs, 2/15, 7-8:30pm, Escape into Nature: Winter Birding 101, Westerville Public Library, register by 2/14, Westerville
-  Week of 2/17-2/24 anytime, Great Backyard Bird Count, in your yard, instructions on the site and more on page 4 in Song Sparrow
- every Thurs, 2/23-3/29, 7-9pm, Beth Richardson: Landscape Design, click on Register Now, McConnell Arts Center, fee for class & materials, Worthington
-  Tues, 2/28, 7:30-9pm, Celebrity/Author Richard Crossley Past, Present & Future, Grange Insurance Audubon Center, Columbus Audubon, Columbus
-  Sun, 2/12, 12-4, Nature Education Center Tour, with 2pm Amazing Adaptations workshop, Ohio Wildlife Center, Powell
-  Weds, 2/22, 9:00-2:30, Ohio Invasive Plants Council Meeting and Presentation, bring sack lunch or register online for $10 lunchbox, Highbanks Metro Park Nature Center, Lewis Center
-  Sat, 2/25, 8:30-4, Project WET, Generation 2.0 educator training K-12, Highbanks Metro Park Nature Center, $25, email Linda Pettit linda-pettit@franklinswcd.org or call 614-486-9613 ext 115, Lewis Center
-  Sat, 3/3, 10-3, Make Your Backyard Wildlife Friendly Presentation (& Fen Walk weather permitting), Cedar Bog, bring notepad & sack lunch, register at 800-860-0147 or 937-484-3744 or email cedarbog@ctcn.net, $6, Urbana
-  Thurs, 4/5 register before 3/15 limited space, 9-4pm, Restoring America - One Native Plant at a Time, Mulberry Community Center, $25, Pomeroy
-  Fri-Sun, 5/4-5/6, Flora-Quest Field Trips - register early, Shawnee Lodge, Shawnee State Forest, special room rate by 4/1, Portsmouth.
-  The Leave No Child Inside Central Ohio Collaborative - read this update New Nature Movement: A Nature-Smart Society.

+ Request for Info & Event Listings - Thank you!
1.  If you have a backyard conservation educational event, send it to me with a link or phone (i.e. by May 13 for June Nature Scoop).
2.  Thanks for telling friends about Nature Scoop!  Have them email marc-a@columbus.rr.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject.
3.  Please let me know how many you forward this message to for my records.
4.  Open permission to post Nature Scoop on websites and blogs - just let me know.

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