Saturday, June 19
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Join the Montezuma Audubon Center for a fun and inclusive birding walk with a Montezuma Audubon Center environmental educator during this month’s celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community. Enjoy a leisurely 1-mile walk through the grassland and forest while learning about the many birds that live there. This nature walk is for anyone who appreciates community, adventure, and wants to get outdoors to explore. We welcome those who identify as LGBTQIA+, allies, families, and anyone looking for a fun, educational, and inclusive outdoor experience. Facial coverings will be required, and we will follow physical distancing guidelines. This tour is funded in part through the generous support of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

Please note: This hike will depart from the Montezuma Audubon Center (2295 State Route 89, Savannah, NY).

-Fee: $5/child, $10/adult, $25/family.
-Please plan to arrive 15 minutes early to get checked in and use the restroom.
-Space is limited and pre-paid online reservations are required.
-Call 315.365.3588 or email montezuma@audubon.org with questions.

Registration is required. https://act.audubon.org/a/audubon-all-guided-birding-hike-colvin-marsh-61921

The 2023 Forever Green Tree & Shrub sale is underway. This year the District is offering five different types of conservation packs. These are great starters for the garden. Each pack is $20 and contains 2 of each 5 different species. Order with payment due by March 10, 2023

Native New York Wildlife; 2 each of White Pine, Red osier Dogwood, Black Cherry Tree, Hazelnut Bush, Juneberry Bush

Perennial Plant Pack;  2 each of Dream Baby Daylilly, Stella De Oro Daylilly, Mixed Peony, and White Iris


Butterfly and Bird Pack; 2 each of Butterfly Bush, Elderberry, Lilatris, Ninebark, Stella Dora Daylily


Ornamental Flowering Pack; 2 each of Ninebark, Butterfly Bush, Lilac, Rose of Sharon, White Flowering Dogwood

Pond Habitat Pack
Pond Habitat Pack; 2 each of Red osier dogwood, Buttonbush, Sycamore, River Birch, Willow

Hosta Pack Pack
Hosta Plant Pack, 2 of each species/ variety of Ventricosa, Hyacinthia, Albo Marginata, F. Aureo Marginata, Honey Bells

The Great Backyard Bird Count starts tomorrow, February 17th and runs through the 20th. The Backyard Bird Count is a four day annual event, the world comes together for the love of birds!! The Backyard Bird Count is a four day annual event, the world comes together for the love of birds!! Over these four days the public is invited to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and report them. These observations help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations. Visit Cornell Labs for reporting and more information. https://www.birdcount.org/[/su_column]

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Join the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) Winter Mapping Challenge and win prizes! From Feb 1 – March 15, 2023, the iMap user who surveys the most sites* for HWA during the challenge wins a prize from the NYS Hemlock Initiative. Visit https://www.nyimapinvasives.org/hwa for more information and to get started.

1. Get outside and look for hemlock trees.

2. Check for white fuzz balls on the undersides of hemlock twigs – these are HWA egg masses.

3.  Report your findings to iMap – submit a presence or not-detected record to document your effort.

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#hwa #imapchallenge #imapinvasives #communityscience #citizenscience #maps #nyoutside #recreatelocal #insects #entomology #invasivespecies #winter #hiking

Diagram showing a windbreak and relationship between windbreak height and the subsequent impact on wind velocity (from: Tree Windbreaks for Farms and Homes, Purdue University Extension).

The Tree and Shrub Sale offers great stock if you are planning a windbreak or privacy row. Start with at least 3-4 rows. The Norway Spruce is excellent and is a fast growing (2-3’ per year) it can grow up to 5 ft a year in a good weather year, another conifer for the tall row is Douglas Fir. For the medium row, Eastern White Pine or White Spruce, for low row, a mixture of shrubs like Lilac or Hazelnut.

Tree and shrub windbreaks are valuable conservation tools with many functions:
🌲Reduced soil erosion — Windbreaks prevent wind erosion for 10 to 20 times their height downwind. They also filter wind-blown soil particles from the air.
🌲Energy conservation — Windbreaks can reduce winter heating costs 20 to 40% by reducing cold air infiltration into buildings. In summer water evaporation from leaves directly cools the air. Windbreaks can be designed to provide energy savings for a small residential lot, a farmstead, or an entire housing development.
🌲Wildlife habitat — In open areas where windbreaks are needed for wind reduction, they may also provide the only woody cover and food necessary for some wildlife species.
🌲Beauty — Trees provide visual screening and permanence in the landscape that other types of plants can not.
🌲Crop protection — Windbreaks can increase crop yields up to 44%. Wind protection reduces crop water use, increases a plant’s ability to make food, and may increase pollination. Quality of fruit and other high value crops can be increased due to reduced sand and soil abrasion.
🌲Snow control — Windbreaks can serve as “living snowfences”, controlling drifts near roads, buildings, or livestock or distributing snow evenly over large areas like
crop fields. Money and energy are saved by reduced need for snow plowing and artificial snow fences.
🌲Livestock protection —Windbreaks can be used as“outdoor barns,” sheltered areas for feeding, calving, and other livestock-related activities.
For questions or design ideas, call 315-946-7200 or email drew@waynenyswcd.org

The New York State Hemlock Initiative represents the efforts of scientists, natural resources professionals, and New York residents united in their love for hemlock trees and dedication to hemlock conservation.

In the past three months, volunteers have recorded a flurry of new observations of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) across our region. In 2023, volunteers have recorded 28 confirmed observations of HWA, and 18 non-detections of HWA, for a total of 46 observations. Some of these observations were made in under-surveyed locations as well, such as Broome, Madison, and Chenango counties. These observations have made measurable impact on our understanding of HWA in the Finger Lakes. With this additional data, land managers in our region can better prioritize resources towards those new infestations, knowing they have time to get to the eastern counties. But what land managers are we talking about

Read more here https://blogs.cornell.edu/nyshemlockinitiative/biocontrol-program/hwa-research/

 

Also,  please save the date for FL-Prism Spring Webinar Series sessions:
April 20th – Christine Chin, Professor of Art and Architecture at Hobart and William Smith Colleges – Concerning Climate: Art About Climate
May 18th – Evan Abramson, Founder and Principal of Landscape Interactions – Native Pollinator-Plant Interactions: Designing Landscapes + Corridors to Support Regional Biodiversity

Photo Courtesy NYS DEC

NYSDEC recently announced that the application period for the ‘Trees for Tribs’ “Buffer in a Bag” Program is now open. Qualifying private and public landowners may apply for a free bag of 25 tree and shrub seedlings for planting near streams, rivers, or lakes to help stabilize banks, protect water quality, and improve wildlife habitat.

DEC’s Trees for Tribs Buffer in a Bag program provides free tree and shrub seedlings for organizations and private landowners to create or improve stream buffers on their property. The seedlings are available to qualified landowners for streamside plantings under DEC Buffer in a Bag Program Learn more at https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/77710.html#Bag

Riparian buffers are strips of vegetation (trees, shrubs or grass) planted next to streams or other waterbodies. By planting vegetation along streams, space is created between the water and upland land uses, which helps protect the water quality and stream habitat. To qualify, landowners must have property in New York State with at least 50 feet bordering a stream, river, or lake, and provide photos or a map of the planting location.

Previous recipients are encouraged to reapply to continue to build riparian buffers. Applicants are eligible for one bag of 25 seedlings and recipients are chosen on a first-come, first-served basis. A total of 350 bags will be available statewide for this round of applications. The 2023 Buffer in a Bag program, application requirements, and the April 7 deadline.  Applications are due by 3 p.m.

These mighty waterside plants start out small, but their impacts are huge:

🌱 They help reduce pollution from entering waterways
🌱 They absorb rain during storms, which slows flooding
🌱 Their roots hold soil in place, which prevents erosion
🌱 The provide wildlife habitat both on land and in the water
🌱 They provide shade, which cools water temperatures and protects native fish
🌱 They absorb and store carbon dioxide, which helps combat climate change

Contact treesfortribs@dec.ny.gov with questions and visit DEC’s Trees for Tribs webpage to learn more.

Every March we celebrate spring and agriculture in New York State! Over the next few weeks we’ll focus on different agriculture practices and BMPs. Agriculture is part of our history, heritage, and values, and continues as an important part of our
culture and rural economy. Ag month is a the perfect opportunity for all of us to better appreciate agriculture’s breadth and beauty!

Pictured above, Steve Olson, of Hidden Canyon Farm, Steve and Susan Olson own and operate a 40 cow/calf beef farm, specializing in high quality meat production located in Lyons, NY

Are you ready? The 2023 Wayne County Envirothon will be held at the Montezuma Audubon Center on  Thursday April 27th. Envirothon is an annual competition in which teams compete by demonstrating their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management. Teams, each consisting of five students from schools, home study groups and environmental clubs, exercise their training and problem-solving skills in a competition centered on five testing categories: Soils/Land Use, Aquatic Ecology, Forestry, Wildlife, and Current Environmental Issues.

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