Living With Wildlife

Wood stork - Back yard, January 2, 2020


Palm warbler - Back yard
Living with wildlife is something I've always treasured. I suspect that's true for anyone that reads this blog. It's always been hard for me to fathom why my feelings on this are not shared by everyone. As I look out at the mostly dead landscapes of my neighbors, it's obvious that most don't care - or, perhaps, they just don't know how much power they wield in sharing their landscapes with other living creatures.
I've been "attracted" to wildlife my entire life. I still have all the stuffed animals I was given from my childhood and I'm not ashamed to admit that I've added a lot more since those years. All of the coloring books I had as a child were of wild animals and most of the stories I treasured were about them. When challenged to choose what my adult profession would be, I chose between working with wildlife or being a professional baseball player. As I matured, it was obvious that the latter career choice would not materialize.
It doesn't take that much to create a living landscape, but it means changing our paradigm about what a landscape should be composed of or look like. As I change this one into something other than turf grass and non-native foundation shrubs, the amount of life that visits me is increasing exponentially. It started mostly with pollinators lured into my yard by my collection of native wildflowers and grasses, but it's now including visits from birds that are finding something of value to check out.
The wood stork that ventured into my back yard a few days ago was here mostly because there is a pond across the street. That water source is very poorly designed for wildlife, but a great many species use it regardless. Two pairs of limpkins raised broods there last summer and it is not uncommon to see just about every wading bird native to this region in it at some time. Neighbors feed them with bread and other things. I wish they wouldn't. but it's difficult to fault their attempts to "help" or the attraction they have for these beautiful birds. In some ways, it's their first step in a longer journey to creating a living landscape.
The palm warblers are now frequent visitors and a downy woodpecker has been around the past few days. I rustled up a house wren a week ago. They compliment the more common birds that were here when I arrived. It is my hope (and belief) that more species will find me as this landscape develops. 
Landscaping for wildlife is so much more than providing insects. I've done my best to do this, but my birds and my future birds will also need a safe place to build a nest and to hide. They will need foods, like small fruit and seeds, for their dietary needs when they don't have nestlings with them, and they'll need a water source that is shallow and designed to their needs. I've yet to install that. It is a future project and it will hopefully be a flowing shallow water source and not just a birdbath.
There's a lot left to do, but that's what a good landscape should be. There should always be something to do and someplace to explore more deeply into. It would be a boring world otherwise.


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