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Local Backyard Birding Class with real feeders, bird baths & gardens
New Backyard Birding Classes in Kennesaw, GA
Where: Smith-Gilbert Botanical Garden & Bird Sanctuary 2382 Pine Mountain Road, Kennesaw, GA 770.422.3384
When: On the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month, from 10:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m.
Cost: $15.00 (includes admission to gardens) $8.00 (garden members)
Instructor: Pat Pepper, M.Ed. and Audubon Society Member
Materials Used: Binoculars (please bring your own if you have them), Spotting Scope, North American Field Guides (Sibley, Stokes, Kaufman & Peterson), Bird Songs (audio from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology), and digital bird pictures.
Class Content: This class is designed for anyone who enjoys watching birds, but would like to learn more about these fascinating creatures: their names, habitats, and food preferences. Lear what flowers and trees you can plant to attract specific birds. The study will mainly be on those birds most common to Georgia yards. First seeing their pictures and then trying to spot them at the Garden’s feeders, bird baths and other water features. The class will conclude with a walk through the gardens looking for birds who don’t usually visit feeders because they’re fruit or insect eaters. At the conclusion of the walk, there will be a Q&A session for more inquisitive minds!
- Ant Moats, Bird Book, Bird Feeder Pole, Bird Field Guides, Bird Nesting Materials, Bird Seed Trays, Birding Accessories, Misters and Birdbath Drippers, Nesting Material, Squirrel Baffle, Water Wiggler, Weather Guards
squirrel baffle serves as weatherguard too
The most effective way to foil squirrels and protect your feeders from their disruptive antics, is with a squirrel baffle. A quality baffle is a one-time investment that will save your birdseed and ultimately your money in the long run.The best part about using a hanging squirrel baffle is the versatility. Some folks even use them as weather guards alone (like me) to protect feeders from the elements. Most will serve as weather guards throughout the changing seasons. Keeping snow in winter, rain, and direct sun in sweltering summer heat, from ever reaching and spoiling the bird food. This will also save money by keeping food fresher longer. Not to mention, squirrel baffles also protec
t feathered friends at your feeder while dining. Although this feeder hangs from a pole with a baffle in place, one is also used to protect the feeder. Check out that snow sitting on top!Planning and proper placement are two key factors when setting up new baffles. One must always remember squirrels’ uncanny acrobatic and athletic abilities! The little furry critters can jump sideways almost 10 feet. So, the horizontal “launching point” must be taken into consideration. Don’t hang the feeder near anything they might be able to jump from sideways. Vertically speaking, be sure the bottom of the feeder is at least five feet from ground level.
All in all, a great investment for novice to advanced backyard birders. Sparing you much aggravation and headache should squirrels be a problem in the yard.
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A Bird Book and the Hospital
Today I was supposed to write about the term bird book. But instead I sit in the intensive care unit at Shore Memorial Hospital one block from the bay in South Jersey. I did notice some rather large sea gulls early this morning by the marina.My mother is not doing so well, she’s had a heart attack, and when they went to move her to do the stent, they discovered pneumonia had set in along with a blood infection. So now it’s complicated as she’s on a ventilator to breathe easier. This person doesn’t look like my mother, who walked into the hospital just last week with all her faculties about her, of sound mind, now in an induced coma.
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