Useful Pointers From An Expert

The weekend before last I took in a workshop at the Stevens Nature Center here in Cary (at the Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve). The topic was "Bringing Birds to Your Backyard" and the class was led by Cary's resident naturalist extraordinaire, Mark Johns. Despite having years of backyard feeder experience, I always welcome the opportunity to pick up a new piece of advice and this workshop did not fail to deliver. My key takeaways: (1) introduce more native vegetation, (2) reassess underperforming food choices: I have one or two!, and (3) keep the hummingbird feeder up in winter: there are certain species now wintering in the state. In turn I was able to share some of my experiences with other participants, and overall I remain persuaded I am doing most things right. I noted with interest that I am doing relatively better attracting nuthatches, bluebirds, and cardinals to my station; no doubt a function of my use of a wide variety of foods and lack of "mixes". But there is more work to do and we'll see how much of the advice pays off in the coming year.