{"id":1512,"date":"2015-01-06T12:12:27","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T16:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/?p=1512"},"modified":"2015-01-06T13:16:14","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T17:16:14","slug":"new-years-resolutions-for-naturalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/new-years-resolutions-for-naturalists","title":{"rendered":"New Year&#8217;s Resolutions for Naturalists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Fiona Reid and Don Scallen &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>January<br \/>\nFood for Feathered Friends!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Consider adding peanuts or suet for extra fat at this time of year<\/li>\n<li>A heated bird bath can be very important in midwinter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>February<br \/>\nTurn down the Heat! Prowl for an Owl!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Save money and reduce consumption of non-renewable energy supplies by turning down heat at night or when out<\/li>\n<li>Owls nest really early so now is a good time to go out at dusk and listen for them, or imitate them and see if you get a response<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>March<br \/>\nIf you build it they will come! Homes for Birds, Bats, and Bees<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Order a new bird house or bat house. Check out <a href=\"%20http:\/\/bumbleboosters.unl.edu\/?q=node\/8\" target=\"_blank\">new domiciles for bumble bees<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Make your own house if you are handy<\/li>\n<li>Bees and wasps like soft wood: drill holes of varying thicknesses in a 6 x 6 or larger log and hang this on an outer wall or barn<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>April<br \/>\nSalamander Season!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Join HNPNC on a salamander walk at Silver Creek to learn about these amazing animals<\/li>\n<li>Hunt for frogs in local ponds<\/li>\n<li>Head to Willow Park in Norval on a sunny day later in the month to look for emerging snakes around the rocks of the hibernacula or beside their small pond<\/li>\n<li>Woodcocks may be back and on territory so go for a woodcock prowl at dusk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>May<br \/>\nHelp our Pollinators by going Native!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Join HNPNC in converting a stretch of the river bank by the St Alban\u2019s church into a home for pollinators and a bank for nesting turtles<\/li>\n<li>Help remove non-natives and plant natives<\/li>\n<li>If you have a large lawn, why not convert a section into a native plant garden?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>June<br \/>\nDig it, Dig it Good!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Put in a pond in your back yard \u2013 nature will come to you (details coming in March newsletter)<\/li>\n<li>No space? A dripping hose can attract birds, or a small fountain will lure in dragonflies<\/li>\n<li>Turtles love ponds, and this month they will also be out looking for nest sites. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.torontozoo.com\/adoptapond\/turtletally.asp\" target=\"_blank\">Report your turtle sightings<\/a> to the Toronto Zoo\u2019s Turtle Tally Program<\/li>\n<li>Do some pond-dipping to see the huge array of small creatures that live in a healthy pond<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>July<br \/>\nOut with the Invaders!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Now is the time to pull out dog-strangling vine and other invasive species before they set seed and spread further<\/li>\n<li>Start a local initiative to remove Norway Maples and plant native trees<\/li>\n<li>Talk to a neighbour about planting native trees and shrubs to provide food for declining birds (caterpillars far prefer native plants and they in turn feed birds)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>August<br \/>\nHave a Wild Night out!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Join HNPNC on a moth night, or paint sticky goop (beer, banana and sugar) on trees near your own home to see what moths you can attract<\/li>\n<li>Come on a Monday evening walk<\/li>\n<li>Watch bats forage over water near the cottage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>September<br \/>\nHelp Migrants Journey in Safety<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Put up weighted threads outside large windows to reduce reflection and bird collisions (check out www.flap.org\/ for more information)<\/li>\n<li>Keep cats inside when thrushes and warblers are passing through backyard habitats<\/li>\n<li>Plant asters and other late-blooming natives for traveling Monarchs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>October<br \/>\nFall into Nature!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Take a trip with our club to see migrating hawks<\/li>\n<li>Look for fall warblers and sparrows<\/li>\n<li>Take a child for a walk in nature; it is a great time of year to see animals of all sizes on the move<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>November<br \/>\nBuy a new Field Guide and get on Track!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>It\u2019s slowing down out in the forest, so why not get some new nature books to study for next year and check off what you have seen to date<\/li>\n<li>Get out after the first snowfall to look for animal tracks, and bring a book to identify them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>December<br \/>\nHave an Eco-friendly Holiday!<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Use recyclable wrapping (bags, newspaper, scraps of cloth)<\/li>\n<li>Decorate the tree with popcorn and cranberries to put out for birds later<\/li>\n<li>Minimize use of colored lights<\/li>\n<li>Give nature-inspired gifts \u2013 for the friends who have everything, consider buying an acre of rainforest<\/li>\n<li>Take part in the Christmas Bird Count and tell your friends all about it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Fiona Reid and Don Scallen &#8211; January Food for Feathered Friends! Consider adding peanuts or suet for extra fat at this time of year A heated bird bath can be very important in midwinter February Turn down the Heat! Prowl for an Owl! Save money and reduce consumption of non-renewable energy supplies by turning &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/new-years-resolutions-for-naturalists\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">New Year&#8217;s Resolutions for Naturalists<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[55,56,87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reid-author","category-scallen-author","category-things-to-do"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gne2-oo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1512"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1538,"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions\/1538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnpnc.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}