Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Happy Anniversary

It has been one year to the day since this blog first took flight and I found my wings as a backyard birder. In that time I've discovered many new birds for my life list, added new feeders to the backyard, built an elongated brush pile, participated twice in the Great Backyard Bird Count, bought a field bag, expanded my birding library with both references and guides, traveled to see new bird species, become the About.com Guide to Birding and Wild Birds, held a house finch and pine siskin in my hands, and become ever more enamoured with the feathered friends who share my yard. There are many new flights still to come, however, including...
  • Building the About.com site even bigger and better (have you signed up for my free newsletter?)
  • Redoing the landscaping to shrink the grass and better accommodate birds
  • Adding more feeders in a dedicated feeding bed
  • Growing a birdseed garden for natural feed
  • Adding feeders to the front yard
  • Continuing to add birds to my life list by traveling across the country
  • Seeking publication in additional birding and bird watching magazines

That's a lot to do, but there is also a lot of time to do it in. The joy is not in the final product, but in the journey during which we share the skies with the birds we love. Happy flying!

3 comments:

Jessica said...

Hi! My husband and I live in SLC and blog at stokesnature.com.

Congrats on your anniversary!

I'd love to learn more about what you had in mind for a feeding bed. We struggle with feeder placement in our yard and try to move the feeders from year to year to prevent the spread of disease. I'm trying to think of a way to keep the area clean (or easily cleaned) so the feeders can stay put.

For us, it's a balance between minimizing window strikes and providing as much protection as possible from our neighbors' outdoor cats.

And ditto to the grass removal and birdseed garden.

Great blog!

Melissa said...

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for the comments! Great to find a fellow Utah birder; if you find yourself in Utah County, please do let me know and we'll hit some trails together.

I'm still working on my plans for a feeder bed, but I cringe every time I look out the window at the moment and see how nasty it looks beneath my station now. I've never fed quite so much nor so many birds during the winter, so this definitely needs some rethinking so it can be clean, safe, and effective. Keep checking back; I'll be sure to post all my updates here.

You can also check out my birding site on About.com (http://birding.about.com) for my free weekly newsletter and a whole range of tips. I'd love to have your input as well!

Cheers,
Melissa

Jessica said...

I signed up for your About.com tips. Nice work! You do so much you put me to shame!