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Audubon at Home is...Audubon Living
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| Photo courtesy of momonawire.blogsome.com |
Have you made efforts to connect with nature, to live lighter on the land, to invite and increase biodiversity in your surroundings, to reduce toxins and volatile compounds from your existence, to share space with birds and other wildlife, to reduce non-essential consumption? If you answered yes to any of these you have experienced Audubon living! Here are some exciting programs at Audubon Pennsylvania that will help with your continuing journey
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Bird Habitat Recognition Program: Engaging in sustainable landscaping will increase your chances of encountering the wonders of nature on a daily basis. Registering your property with Audubon Pennsylvania will ensure that you get up-to-the-minute information on events in your region and opportunities to interact with experts and like-minded landowners around the state. It’s free to register. Adding a yard sign will pique the interest of your neighbors! |
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| Photo by Howard B. Eskin |
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Audubon At Home: Six simple principles that lead to better ecological address and a greener “you.” |
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| Ithan Elementary Bird blind, photo by C. Etters |
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Audubon At School: For every child that does not encounter real nature on a regular basis, we lose a steward for the future. That’s why Audubon travels the state promoting schoolyard habitats (elementary and middle schools) and outdoor laboratories (colleges and universities) – so that nature comes to the campus to be nurtured, studied, and preserved. |
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| Habitat garden, Doylestown Hospital |
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Audubon At Work: Studies have shown that workers who have access to a view of nature or to the physical greenspace itself, have reduced negative emotions and greater positive feelings which result in greater productivity. That’s why Audubon is working to inform business landscapes and encouraging the inclusion of bird-friendly native plant communities in foundation plantings and landscape masterplans. In the end, it could save thousands of landscape maintenance dollars. |
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Bird Town PA – Imagine, an entire community working to be more sustainable and bird-friendly! Coming Soon. |
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Audubon Advisors – Teams of trained volunteers will come to your residence, school, or business and offer advice on creating a native-based sustainable landscape plan that will invite life into the yard. More info coming soon. |
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Important Bird Area VIP’s – properties located within an IBA can have marked conservation impacts. Learn about IBA’s and what you can do to address birds of conservation concern. |
RESOURCES
Bird/Plant Database – Under construction with DCNR. Coming soon.
Native Plants – where to find them, which to use, nurseries, sales, events
Events
Top fruiting and seed-producing trees and shrubs for birds (pdf)
MUST READS
Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens, 2007, Tallamy, D. In simple terms, this book connects the dots and makes it clear that increasing native insect biomass with native plants is the glue that holds together the web of life in the homemade habitat. Available at most book retail sources and nature centers.
Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of our Own Backyards, 1993, Stein, S., Houghton Mifflin: A beautifully written examination of why restoring habitat on our properties is so important and how it can replace traditional landscaping practices which create a disconnect. If nothing else, read the first 100 pages and you will have a new perspective on your yard. Available on retail book websites, some retail book locations, and at some nature centers.
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, 2005, Louv, Richard, Algonquin Books. If you have children, teach children, or care about children, this is a must have. Available at Mill Grove, nature centers, and most retail.
Audubon Guide to Gardening for Life in Southeastern Pennsylvania, 2005, National Audubon Society/Bucks County Audubon Society: Alternating chapters on how-to’s and model “success stories” that address problems specific to the mid-Atlantic region including runoff management, naturalizing detention basins, deer, home and corporate habitat gardens. Available from Audubon PA, the Schuylkill Center, Honey Hollow, and other nature centers.
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