Hello Nature-Led Friends!

It’s Springtime and I’m springing into action trying to get our homestead, affectionately known as the Fernmire, ready for the warm seasons. Why do we call it Fernmire? Because we have lots of ferns and it can become quite the mire through the rainy season, roughly October through May. I also just really like the name; it goes with my whole “Bog Lady Witch” aesthetic that I’ve been dreaming up in my brain. Strictly for my own entertainment purposes. My rituals are very mundane (like making coffee in the morning) and my curses are basic (like calling bad drivers “a dirty biscuit eater” because it’s better to be annoyed and amused than all about road rage.)

Humans aren’t the only ones who get annoyed about near misses. The birds are going crazy right now! They harken the early morning dawn at 6am now. The Juncos, in particular, are bad drivers flyers and the chickadees aren’t having it! I nearly got hit by a Junco the other day! Did it mistake me for a moving tree? It narrowly missed my face, which would have been unpleasant for both of us! There are of course some rivalries going on as the birds vie for mates making them bolder and maybe not so smart in the throes of passion.

This is the time of year when we see an increase in birds hitting the windows. I’d always hoped if we kept our windows dirty enough the birds wouldn’t hit them, but there’s always a few that seem to hit the windows in the dining room despite the dirty windows. So, this was the year I put forth the effort to clean the windows and put window clings on them that should hopefully stop unnecessary death. There is enough drama going on with the Avian Flu right now, affecting birds and mammals alike. While I don’t want to get into it, I’ve heard several heartbreaking first-hand accounts from Wildlife Enthusiasts/Birders and Wildlife Rehabbers alike of Great Blue Herons, Raccoons and Foxes dying or being humanely euthanized due to complications from HPAI H5N1.

This is the year we were also on time for making a plethora of new birdhouses! You can make four birdhouses from one piece of cedar wood fence plank; the fifth one was made out of spare wood we had as the initial prototype. If you would also like to make birdhouses this is the website we used for instructions and cut sheet. It’s hosted by the Cornell School of Ornithology, which also hosts the wonderful website All About Birds.

https://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/right-bird-right-house/?range=pacific

I hope you are well and have the chance to get outside! If you’re doing anything special to support your wild neighbors this year let me know in the comments below!

Additional Links:

For more information about Avian Flu impacts visit the page of the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society below:

Avian Influenza