Coming soon!
What do certain types of birds like eating? Click here to find out. Coming Soon!
Check out this story from the Audubon Society pertaining to declining bird numbers across the US.
Birds in Minnesota that have declined in number the most over the past 40 years:
1. Meadowlark, Eastern and Western
2. Red-headed woodpecker
3. Purple Martin
4. Northern Pintail
5. Indigo bunting
After going on hikes at Whitewater State Park and Oxbow Park and seeing a beautiful wildflower that the Red Admirals and the Fritillarys seemed to really enjoy, we decided that it would be a real treat to have these flowers in our yard. Some investigational skills lead to finding out that this was a dame's rocket, which in some areas is considered a weed, and very hard to find anywhere to buy these from as an actual plant. However, I'd still like to start a small prairie garden in the backyard. Right now, the lot behind us is empty and there are a lot of tall grasses that provide shelter and cover for wildlife but as the neighborhoodgets built up, this will soon be lost, so now begins the process of finding a good mix of native prairie grasses and flowers.
Another goal for our back yard is to get the yard certified as a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. To do this, we need to provide food, water, cover, and a place for animals to raise their young. Since we live in a new neighborhood, we don't have any mature trees in our yard, so we need to come up with more creative ways to fit some of these criteria.
