Dark Skies and Your Wildlifing Patch

Depth before breadth - Becoming familiar with the neighbours

An item in the winter issue of QuébecOiseaux referenced a fascinating article about the eating habits of Gulls: It was found that Herring Gulls are more likely to approach bags of chips (or “crisps” as the British researchers put it) if they see humans nearby eating the same chips; in fact, they even preferred bags the same colour as the ones the humans are eating from! This is further evidence (if evidence were needed) that gulls don’t just copy the eating habits of their own species but are perfectly willing to copy other species’ habits as well.

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It is commonly assumed by those who live in, or close to cities and towns that real nature lies somewhere “out there” in the wild beyond. They expect that their gardens and parks, human creations for the most part, must be diminished in variety by the very presence of human development and so can have little or no significant “nature” at all. In fact, there is a surprisingly rich and diverse natural history in and around the places people live but if you don’t look, you will never see. Diminished, of course, because our roads and houses and vehicles cannot but have an impact but nevertheless, it is remarkable how many, sometimes quite rare, sometimes extremely beautiful, always interesting creatures and plants have survived, tucked in corners and cracks in the sidewalk, almost out of sight. Just waiting to be found.

In order to know it properly a landscape requires routine and repetition ... a celebration of a relationship with place that has been built at a slow tempo. If ever one examines the processes of nature then very few of them happen in a hurry. A crocus or a daffodil freshly emerging from the ground in February never comes up faster than it should, despite one's wishing sometimes that it would. As it spreads across a field when at last the sun emerges from the clouds, that returning flood of sunlight will arrive at the spot where you stand steadily and entirely without haste. Nature keeps its own pace. To do things routinely, to take the same walk time after time, is not to see the same view over and over. It is to notice the incremental rate of natural change and to appreciate that nothing is ever repeated. I am often struck by the way, when one has had some deeply memorable encounter with an otter, say, or perhaps a sighting of a rare bird or butterfly, that the next day you see almost nothing at all. They are never in the same spot. Nature has a way of balancing its books.
- Mark Cocker, ‘Claxton’ (Penguin Vintage 2014)

Lots of us are interested in the natural world and enjoy being outside with birds and butterflies and wild flowers. Indeed, it is well established that being outside “in nature” is good for our minds as well as our bodies. Given the right circumstances, more of us can might make the effort to get out there. For example, in 2021 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Britain noted a 70% jump in visits to their website and an over 50% increase in people seeking help with identifying birds that they had seen during the covid lockdown years - going for a walk was one of the few things we could do just to get out of the house. Other organisations had noted similarly increased interest. During that period of restriction, I published a short book (see link at the top of the page, and no, I am not making money from it) about urban biodiversity. It is not intended to give assistance in species identification, but to open readers’ eyes to the sheer variety of species to be found in our gardens and urban parks and in the streets on which we live. To the surprise of many, urban nature can be truly rich and diverse, even if often little regarded. My book offers an illustrated catalogue of what you might see, could see, will see on your doorstep or nearby.

Where to start?

What is perhaps needed is a starting point for anyone and everyone who has ever looked at a bird or a flower or a bee and wondered what it is. People who can already do that have the knowledge and skills to refer to more advanced texts and sources. Those who are not so skilled may be encouraged to learn more simply by finding that there is more to be learned – and that they do not have to stray far from home to find it in considerable variety. Birders can look through bird field guides. Lovers of flowers and trees can do likewise. Interested in mosses? That’s a bit harder as they are more of a niche subject, but the information is available if you are diligent. As for insects – after butterflies and moths, it all gets a bit more abstruse, but I encourage you to press forward even if some insects can only be identified to species by counting the hairs on their legs. Seriously! All that is required to surprise anyone as to the riches that have managed to hang on around us, is to open our eyes and look around.

If we idly assume that anything wild is a “weed” or “just a sparrow” and that insects are either bees or bugs, some of which sting, then we will miss much.

I live in the outer suburbs of one of this continent’s “great” cities - Montreal. Baie-D’Urfé is one of several small municipalities that have grown on the island alongside Montreal. When I say small, I mean just 6 sq.km in area and a population of under 4000. It is a community of commuters, plenty of retirees and a growing population of children and teenagers. What distinguishes the town is that the lots are a larger than standard. Pretty well all of them have mature trees growing and there are a number of small parks. This forms much of my “patch” and, along with the nearby arboretum, is the source of many topics that I write about in this journal. There are so many species to be found within a reasonable walk or a cycle ride away ... nothing that you would need to take a car to reach. For example, within a ten- minute drive, fifteen minutes by cycle, is a large arboretum open to the public. It is owned by McGill University, and has kept me fascinated with its wildlife and plants for over twenty five years – always something to discover. There is the St-Lawrence River, with all the variety that such a feature offers. Hawks hunt from atop street lights beside the highway to the north of the residential part of the town, while garden feeders bring birds to our doorsteps. Corners of gardens and unmown sectors of parks together with roadside verges harbour surprisingly interesting plants, while a good selection of insects is not hard to locate at all. No need to leave the suburbs for any of this.

But you have to look and take notice. Some years ago, with a friend, I was leading a spring-migration birding field trip during late May in the arboretum. Returning to the car park, our group of about 20 people was stopped by a middle-aged fellow, asking us what we were doing. “Birding”, we told him. He wanted to know what we had seen, and I responded that we had compiled a list of almost 60 species of birds since early morning (it was peak migration that weekend, and pretty exception even then) and would he like me to read off their names? “I don’t believe you”, he responded. “I have been walking here all my life and all I ever see are blackbirds and sparrows”. Well, as the saying goes, there are none so blind as those that will not see, and here was a classic case. Someone who clearly enjoys the open air well enough to take regular trail walks in the forest, but who still sees nothing and sadly knows less.

Simple beginnings

When I talk to people about this, the response is often to acknowledge that they do indeed like birds and butterflies but have no idea where to begin getting to know them better. Identifying what the plants and creatures are just seems so overwhelming that they pause on the brink of knowledge, being happy for now with red birds (Cardinals), canaries (American Goldfinch) and black birds (so many varieties of those). We all began like that but start small and keep it simple.

If you do nothing else this winter - install bird feeders in your gardens. A small, but enjoyable thing with big benefits. Then perhaps consider joining the Feederwatch citizen science project.

Birds in our gardens, watched through the window, surreptitiously change the way we all think about our environment - you really would notice if they were not there one day. What’s more, the variety of visitors will generally not be too overwhelming. You will have the time to really look at one or two or three species at a time. They hang around because you are providing them with food and shelter and thereby give you an opportunity to observe them properly. Simply learn to identify half a dozen species and you have taken the first steps. After that it gets easier every time.

A well placed feeder - such as this suet block might bring you, for example, a Carolina Wren. A bit over a decade or so ago they were unknown in the Montreal area despite being common further south. Aided by climate change and increased provision of garden feeders, a small local population is now establishing itself. Lovely birds with a marvellous song - I went out to the compost heap a couple of days ago and was serenaded there and back.

“Our” environment is never ours alone. It is also the environment belonging to the many species of wildlife that live alongside us. It’s a healthy, shared environment that the next generation will be growing up in. We are all, by now, aware of the global climate crisis and have seen its awful effects recently in floods and forest fires. Any solution to this, ultimately, has to come from citizens who care enough to make a difference. All our accumulated small steps will add up to a lot. Act locally to affect change globally.

Caring comes from knowing and observing. It’s a fair bet that most readers of this journal enjoy having birds visit their gardens - all the more so if there are wide-eyed children around who will be enthused by their presence and activities and keep up the good work after we have gone. When people, and especially children, enthusiastically ask questions about the garden birds and butterflies have the facts to hand to be able to answer them. Or at least be able to help them find the answers.

To see is to question. To question is to know. To know is to care. To care enough is to effect change down the years and generations.

You will find a lot of information about actually setting up your feeders in books and on the Internet so you don’t need me to double down on the details. It’s pretty basic stuff though. Make sure to position the feeders where you can see them easily from indoors so you get more enjoyment out of watching the birds, miss less, and are quickly aware of when your feeders need attention (filling, clearing, cleaning, moving out of reach of squirrels). Quebec-made “Squirrel Buster” brand feeders really do keep the squirrels away from the bird food.

Put out high-energy foods such as suet, peanuts, black sunflower seeds, meal worms and make sure feeders are filled especially before snow- falls and extremely cold weather. Most birds will eat black oil sunflower seeds. Put mixed seed (avoid cheap brands containing cracked corn) on a platform feeder for Mourning Doves, Juncos, and Blue Jays. Some shelled peanuts in a peanut feeder or suet in a suet holder for woodpeckers and nuthatches. Different types of feeders support different feeding habits. Tube feeders with perches attract Chickadees, Nuthatches, Goldfinches, Woodpeckers, Cardinals and will not accumulate snow. Feeders with flat trays/surfaces attract “ground feeder” types of birds (Cardinals, Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, Juncos). Temporary shelter for birds in storms can be provided using brush piles – a good use for the Christmas tree!

Call out to the other people in your house so they see birds too. Let your excitement be infectious. Then go out for a walk and see what birds are at your neighbours’ feeders or in the park or the school playing field or the churchyard. Expand your “patch” a bit at a time.

Feederwatch

I mentioned this citizen science project a few paragraphs further up the page. If you are enjoying the visitors to your garden feeders, taking part in Feederwatch ads a further dimension to the pleasure and contributes significantly to bird conservation. If we don’t know what birds are where then how do we know if their populations are rising or falling? Project FeederWatch is a joint research and education project of Birds Canada and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that depends on volunteers like you to help us all learn more about bird populations and operates in the winter months. You don’t need to be an expert birder. You also don’t need to make a huge time commitment – you decide how much time you spend. Even if you count birds only once during the season, that is a helpful snapshot of the birds in your location.

Find out more here: https://www.birdscanada.org/you-can-help/project-feederwatch

We have been Feederwatchers for 25 years since we came to live where we do. If you think that “only a few” birds visit your garden … well, in that period we have logged 57 different garden species in total during the winter count period (more than twice that many in all twelve months of the year) and already, in the first three months of the current season, we have been visited by 18. Who says there is no nature in our communities?

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The Gift-Giving Season approaches rapidly and for the budding Wildlifer maybe a pair of not very expensive binoculars would perhaps be appreciated … this is a helpful article, also useful for those already in possession of binoculars which they can share with visitors on a post-prandial walk over the holidays.

https://substack.com/inbox/post/138829478

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Dark Skies and Night Walking
I recently came across an English journalist, Melissa Harrison, who writes on the sort of topics that I do - the exception being that she makes a living out of it whereas I don’t even try. This paragraph is taken from a post of hers that I link to below.

Quote:

The Bortle Scale runs from one to nine, one being a completely dark sky in which up to 6,000 stars and other objects can be seen with the naked eye, and nine the sky above (large cities), in which only the moon and – on a very clear night – the Plough or Orion are visible. Light pollution is rising at about 2% per year, driven by building illuminations, security lights, major road expansion, office lights pointlessly left on and even undrawn curtains and decorative garden lights, so that the night skies I grew up with in Surrey – then Class 2, the same as the skies today over my village – are in 2023 a polluted class 5. A child gazing up at night from that garden now won’t be able to pick out the same constellations that my dad so painstakingly taught me 40-odd years ago.

Her post is about wildlife enjoyed while night-walking. A short, but a rather good read:

An ethereal gravity

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When I was a child back in the fifties and sixties we all spent as much time as possible out of doors playing and investigating. Parental caution has changed somewhat since then, as we all know, and not for the better. The writer of a short book I have been reading comments on having much the same freedom as we did when she was our age in the seventies and eighties and how she used to champ at the bit when heavy rain confined her to home … I find what she says terribly sad these days when it’s unusual to see neighbourhood kids outside unsupervised. I think my generation, and the author’s too, benefited enormously from learning by experimenting and observing. Gaining independence and self-sufficiency while having fun. A few bumps and scrapes on the way soon healed.

“Yet that circumscribed world is now all that’s available to many modern kids: studies suggest that since the 1970s, when I was born, children’s ‘radius of activity’–the area around their home in which they are allowed to play unsupervised–has declined by almost 90 per cent. Perhaps every day–not just when it rains–is an indoor day for children now.”

— Rain: Four Walks in English Weather by Melissa Harrison

It’s an excellent, and quite short, book, by the way. I commend it to you.

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There was an article in a recent Globe & Mail about web newsletters, paid and free. The author wrote that “If you can tell me something I didn’t know, about something adjacent to something I do know, that, to me, is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Not at all sure about the aphrodisiac content of my articles, but broadly speaking that’s pretty much all I am trying to achieve.