To return to  Little Green Place for Birds contest page, CLICK HERE 

61. Sean-Michael Fleming, Brooklyn, New York

 

 

My favorite little green space is the Woodbine Street Block Association Garden in Bushwick, Brooklyn. In the past few years it has come alive with new plants, new people, and new life.* And birds! While I'm usually gardening and not fast enough to capture them on film, we have seen increased bird activity, likely due to the recent plantings of pollinator-attracting flowers toward the front of the garden (including bull thistle, echinacea, salvias, yarrow, monarda, and butterfly bush), and a new, simple birdbath.

This spring we had two of my favorite feathered friends visit for several days on their spring migration northward: a magnolia warbler and a black-throated blue warbler. Nice! Regular visitors include catbirds, robins, cardinals, and of course the sparrows, who love the cool shade of the cucumber patch. And then there's the young raccoon family on the block, but don't get me started about that.

The garden serves as a green oasis for both humans and birds in the sometimes harsh urban environment and I'm proud to be a part of it.

* Full disclosure: Okay - I run the garden and may therefore be completely biased.

62. Lori Stoneman, Hamakua Marsh, Kailua, O'ahu, Hawaii

	Spotted "mountain" dove, resting by marsh banks
	Zebra dove catching some rays by the marsh
	Pacific Golden Plover (Hawaiian name: "Kolea" or "Rain Bird"), breeding plumage, curbside next to the marsh

 

My "Little Green Place" favorite would have to be the Hamakua Marsh, located in the beautiful little windward O'ahu town of Kailua (my home).  The Hamakua Marsh is a protected environment for indigenous birds, however birds of all species find refuge in the brackish waters and marshy banks of this city-edge reserve.  It's a wonderfully accessible vantage point for birders of all levels, and an important breeding ground for native species.

Common mynahs
Baby Zebra Doves nesting in Norfolk pine tree
Common Waxbill foraging for seeds in grass/back yard
Male northern cardinal in plumeria tree
Papaya for three: m/f house finches, red-crested cardinal
Cattle egret, breeding plumage (after the bugs stirred up by gardeners)

Another one of my favorite little green places is my front and back yards in Kailua, Hawaii!  Almost daily, I leave papaya and other fruit peelings/scraps out for an open salad bar for all birds.  I have many daily 'regulars', as there are a good variety of shrubs and trees surrounding our property making it a safe habitat for our neighborhood bird species.  The plumeria trees and a huge Norfolk pine tree in the back yard are favorite nesting spots for 'Red-vented Bulbuls' and Zebra Doves, so we have families of birds that hang around our house (they know where they "have it good").

My absolute favorite morning visitors are the Northern Cardinals in my little green place which is my front yard in Kailua, Hawaii.  Every morning during breeding season, this beautiful male cardinal would sit on the telephone line across the street and in front of my house, singing away.  I just couldn't resist trying to capture it all on video, however it was difficult from this great distance...but the song remains the same!  Now that I've moved to California, I dearly miss the sounds of these intriguing and spectacular birds. Watch here.

**********************************************

63. Allison Uhrig, Mason, Ohio

Where:

  Mason, Ohio (20 minutes north of downtown Cincinnati)

Why:

  This is a great little green place for birds because our childcare center is a little green space in the middle of busy roads and lots of buildings.  We have some beautiful trees on our property and lots of mud which provided excellent nesting material for our resident barn swallows. 

Photo:

  Attached is a photo of the barn swallow that built a nest right over one of the exit doors to our childcare center.  You can see her hungry babies sticking their heads up out of the nest, waiting for their next meal. 

******************************************************************* 

64. Patricia Todovich, Colorado Springs, Colorado

 

We live in a neighborhood called Sunset Mesa, located in the center of El Paso County. Our home is located along the busiest main street in our urban neighborhood, yet we are surrounded by Sunset Mesa Open Space which contains a 2500 year old Bristlecone Pine and numerous One Seed Juniper trees. We enjoy wildlife, including Mule Deer, Fox, Coyotes, Raccoons, Rabbits, Voles, Mice, Garter Snakes, occasional Diamondback Rattlesnakes, Squirrels, Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, and of course a very large variety of birds- too numerous to mention all the species.  Of note is that during the week of November 4-11, 2007 we had a rare visit from a male Summer Tanager- Western variety.  

The photographs above are of our front yard which is adjacent to Saddle Rock Road.  Since moving here we have cultivated a bird and wildlife friendly environment by planting wildflowers throughout our property as well as several species of sunflowers. ( Although we maintain a totally organic bird friendly space in our backyard 

and have numerous feeding stations and water elements there, we decided to make our front yard bird friendly as well.) Some of the sunflowers shown in photos came from the Urban Birds packet.  Our Little Green Place in our front yard attracts many species of birds year round and is remarkable in that no artificial feeders or food are provided.  There are also Aspen, Colorado Blue Spruce and a very old stand of native Gambel Oak.  

The Gambel Oak has been trained to grow in a very unusual twisted growth pattern and totally surrounds our raised covered front porch and frames the stairway leading to our front door.  We have even observed Great Horned Owls in and around our Gambel Oaks. We feel as though we live in a tree house!  

Also in our front yard are numerous Elderberry Bushes. The trees provide shelter and food for a large variety of birds. Nests we have observed  in the trees of our front yard  include those of  Robins, Mourning Doves, Chickadees, House Finches, Grackels, and occasionally Magpies. The wildflowers attract hummingbirds  in the summer and many species of butterflies and bees.

We use only organic fertilizers on our flowers- our favorite in this dry arid climate is fish emulsion.  The fish emulsion is particularly great for the Elderberry bushes. and of course many birds love the Elderberries.

 

The 4 photos above were taken in August 2008, and show some of the sunflowers from the Urban Birds kit which we planted in our front yard along the steps leading to our porch.  Except for the Russian Sage (a low water needs plant) all of the flowers in our front yard are wildflowers.  Birds that fed and are still feeding on the sunflowers are Chickadees (Black Capped and Mountain) and Lesser Goldfinches.

***********************

65. Margaret Mariam Rosenthal, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

My little green space is in Jamaica Plain, MA, just inside the Boston city limits. When I moved here there was a front and back lawn. Both are gone now. The front yard has blueberry, raspberry and grape vines/bushes, which spill over on the the sidewalk. People who pass by are encouraged to share in the bounty, and Blue Jays regularly leave diamond-shaped, beak marks on the tops of the blueberries.  The backyard has elderberries, raspberries and three young Blue Spruce; as well as yews, and a few maple and oak trees.(The joke is that I'm planting trees as fast as I can.  Every time a neighbor cuts down a healthy tree, I plant something here.)

I have eight bird feeders and three seasonally heated bird baths. I built a 15' x 8' x 6' bramble, from fallen branches to give the birds a place to hide from predatory birds, a major challenge in the winter. And every New Year's I drive around and bring home 4 or 5 discarded Christmas trees to provide shelter for the birds, next to the feeders and baths. Ironically, standing in Christmas tree stands, some of the trees stay green all the way through March. My backyard isn't pretty or very photogenic. It wouldn't be in a fancy home and garden magazine. But the sound of birds can be heard from the sidewalk, 150' feet away; and Downy Woodpeckers feed less than 10' from my cottage door. Blue Jays announce their arrival and wait for me to sprinkle peanuts on an old picnic table, just for them. Northern Cardinals come at dusk, when most birds have left.  The Rock Pigeons that live in a neighborhood church steeple, are gone by then.  There is plenty of spill for them to feed their young, too. My cottage is simple, and like everyone else money is extremely tight. But listed among the absolute necessities at the top of my shopping list is black oil sunflower seeds, thistle/niger seed, mixed seed and unsalted peanuts.

Grey Catbird

I began feeding the birds in an attempt to overcome seasonal depression six years ago. And now their calls and songs weave between the naked winter trunks outside my window. Their colors soften the starkness of winter white. And the sight of me wearing garbage bags (tied to my thighs) so I can make it through snowdrifts to the feeders, even makes the squirrels laugh.

******************************************************************

66. Morgan Evans, 9, Brownsburg, Indiana

 

 

This Little Green Place is in my side yard where we have a fountain. The birds take a bath and drink from our fountain. I hope you enjoy the picture of our Little Green Place!

*********************

67. Marian Mendez, Hialeah, Florida

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

68. Dee DeJong, Littleton, Colorado

 

69. Patricia Smallwood, Provo, Utah

(pictures taken with cell phone)

This is one corner of my yard in Provo Utah. Birds of all types, from the
smallest of hummingbirds to bald eagles visit us 24/7. You can see part of
our Koi pond where we have baby ducks each spring (23 last year). Bird
feeders are all around the pond and yard as well as plants and flowers that
attract and house many birds. Fritz, our Great Dane pup, is in the picture
too. Our Danes are "bird dogs" in that they love birds. Our ducks,
pheasant and quail survive the mink and raccoons who also visit because the
dogs protect them.

 

 

A beautiful group of Aspens close to my yard. Who wouldn't want to live
there?

From our yard on a rainy afternoon the view is the base of the Rocky
Mountains. I guess it is really more like "big green places". The picture
was taken with my cell phone camera. If you look closely the rainbow ends
on a church.

***************

70. Christopher Playford, Rochester, New York