Bluebirds, a Success Story

An iconic, mostly North American migratory songbird, the Eastern Bluebird could currently be considered a conservation success story. I have written a few posts about the damage that invasive species and habitat destruction have on native species. Bluebird populations suffered terribly from both of these until a widespread grassroots conservation effort took hold and helped turn the tide.

Bluebirds suffered declines from the introduction and adaptation to North America of introduced European Starlings and House Sparrows. Both invasive species out competed passive bluebirds for nesting sites. Bluebirds relied on natural cavities or ones made by woodpeckers, etc. Destruction of potential nesting cavities by removing snags and replacing wooden fence posts with metal ones were two major examples of habitat destruction contributing to their decline. There can be a natural ebb in bluebird populations due to extremely cold winters, such as occurred in the south in the early and late 50's and late 70's. When bluebird populations were already greatly decreased due to invasives, habitat destruction and the widespread use of pesticides such as DDT, the survival of the species was in more peril due to natural fluctuations.

Luckily the public took notice of the precipitous decline of this pretty and melodious bird and has participated in programs aimed at helping overcome the loss of natural cavity nesting sites. The bluebird will accept artificial nesting cavities in the form of bird houses. Proper construction of the opening to the bird house can even prevent starlings from being able to hijack the nest. Check in your area for a local bluebird society that can help give you tips on bluebird birdhouse construction or check out the North American Bluebird Society webpage. One tip for putting up bluebird houses is that bluebirds are territorial and need a certain amount of space per nest. It is best to keep bluebird houses a minimum of 300 feet apart to allow enough territory for each family.

While I was growing up in the east during the 1960's and 70's small increases in bluebird populations began to be observed due to the establishment of bluebird trails and other nest box initiatives. Because I was aware of the plight of the bluebird, I was very excited when I saw my first one in the wild in North Texas almost two decades ago. I would continue to see a bluebird occasionally in a local park and then several years ago I started seeing them around my yard and pasture. One year I even got to see some newly fledged babies fly to a statue next to my pond. By the time I got my camera, two of the three had already flown off.

Every individual can make a difference in the conservation of our native flora and fauna. Through the efforts of many individuals, bluebird populations are growing again. Since European Starlings and House Sparrows are not likely to ever all be sent back across the pond, continued support by individuals is likely to be necessary for the continued success of bluebirds.

(The first image in this post is available as a matted 5x7 print. Please contact me for details if you are interested in purchasing one.)

Out and About – Marmot Photographic Art

I always enjoy it when a customer sends in a photo of themselves wearing one of my creations or showing a photographic art piece off in its new surroundings. Even better is running into one of your creations in person after it has found a new home.

I had the pleasure of seeing a gallery wrapped photographic art print of mine, a marmot titled "Food?", when my husband and I visited the BRIT earlier this year. While we were taking a tour of the facility, one of the researchers asked if I would like to see what a co-worker had done to the marmot he had purchased from me for his office. While I wasn't sure what to think about something being done to my artwork, I said we would love to come up after we were finished with the tour. I needn't have worried about what had been done to my artwork though, I totally loved it. It was fun, creative and didn't actually involve any alterations to the print itself. I can't wait to see what fun thing the marmot does next.

Speaking of fun, I have found the people who work and volunteer at the BRIT to be very passionate about what they do and have a lot of fun doing it. Whether you have young or old kids or an empty nest, I strongly suggest if you are in the area that you head over to the BRIT for their upcoming Prairie Day, a celebration of native landscapes of North Texas. This year the BRIT's Prairie Day with be Saturday, May 16 from 9am – 1pm. You can see birds of prey, listen to live music, make craft projects and go on guided prairie walks to name a few of the fun activities waiting for you. Much more information is located on their Prairie Day page.

I plan on going again this year. You can see some images I took of a screech owl last year in an earlier blog post.

Happy First Day of Spring 2015

My pear tree is in full bloom and looks like spring. It is right on time considering spring officially begins this evening, March 20, at 5:45 CDT. However, it has been the bulbs in my garden this year that have been giving me hope that spring really would be coming soon even when winter hung around long after it had worn out its welcome.

It started with two varieties of paperwhites followed by February Gold and 4 other varieties of daffodils and jonquils. My favorite spring bulb growing up was crocus. They often bravely poked up their pretty little flowers through the snow. I have not had luck getting them to repeat in North TX but I do have some hyacinths that I planted in a micro climate that they are happy with and have just begun to bloom once again this year.

If you got snow today on your first day of spring, may it melt soon and may you see signs of impending spring in your area. If you already have spring blooming bulbs popping up, you might want to run out to the nursery for some spring flowering annual companions to plant near by. Later as the foliage of the bulbs ripens and dies back, the annuals will have gotten larger and begun flowering to help disguise the retreating bulb foliage. By allowing the foliage to fully ripen and not cutting it back prematurely, you will help your bulbs store the needed energy to produce a good flush of flowers next spring too.

Pi Day 2015

March 14 is almost here, what are you going to do to celebrate? Celebrate what you say? Why, Pi Day of course! (π = 3.14, March 14 = 3/14)

Ok, I admit it, I like math so I think it is fun that someone noticed the connection with the date and helped turn it into a day that at least math geeks around the world have fun with and celebrate. This year in particular is pretty fun in that on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 the first 10 digits of π will be represented by the date and time.

And this year I finally have something fun in my EclecticSkeptic shop for the math geek that is related to pi. When I looked back through my blog I noticed that I mentioned two years ago that I needed to come up with some pi goodies. My first one is a matted 8 x 10 image that puts together several fun ideas I had while riffing on pi. Probably the most obvious is the morphing of pi to pie, which I represented, not with a sweet pie but a savory mushroom and chicken quiche (pie). The image of the round pie also brings to mind the pun, "Pi aren't square, pi are round" that I often hear in my mind when thinking of the equation for the circumference of a circle (C = πr²). Then I got to thinking of the phrase "Let them eat cake" and thought it would be more fun with the word "pie". But instead of using pi or π to replace pie, the science geek in me used elements from the periodic table to spell pi.

If your eyes have not yet glazed over at my description of my recent creation (the image, not the quiche – my hubby cooked that and it was delicious) then you just might know someone that needs to hang it in their home or would enjoy one of my other math geek goodies. If not, I hope I at least made you smile and gave you a good excuse to have some pie of your choosing on March 14.

Thanks for the Treasuries - February 2015

Six Etsy shop owners and one Etsy team let me know they had featured one or more of my items in treasuries during February. Eighteen February Etsy treasuries, that treasury makers let me know about, included one of my creations and five treasuries featured one item from each of my shops. You can see a collage below of my items from EDCCollective and EclecticSkeptic that were featured during February. Some of them were featured in more than one treasury. (Click on the collage to see a larger view.)

I really appreciate being featured by the treasury makers. To thank them, I have listed below a link to the Etsy sellers that let me know they had featured one or more of my items, as well as an item from their shop that I like. You will also see information about the TexasFriendsTeam that also featured items of mine.

Enjoy window shopping and please click on the links of anything that catches your eye.

BeadsforBunnies
This shop offers handmade jewelry made of glass, semi-precious stone, shell, and wood and takes custom orders too.

CorkyCrafts
If you have a wine connoisseur who happens to appreciate hand made items look no further than this shop's wonderful creations.

HotdogCrafts
This shop owner turns graphics into button dangle earrings, hair clips & keychains.

LacoteDesign
Decorate your walls with shabby cottage romance style wall art from this shop.

MagicTwirl
Here you will find handmade, hand painted jewelry ready to be shipped to you.

ShopinIstanbul
This shop is filled vintage decor items from Istanbul.

TXFriendsTeam
Past, present and future Texans are welcome and encouraged to join this team. The only real rules of the group are to promote friendly, The TX Way, and be respectful to all who participate.

Artist Spotlight - J Blake

Do you remember an art project in elementary school where your teacher had you cover a sheet of paper with differently colored crayons followed by a layer of black crayon? After that you were instructed to create a scene on this sheet of paper by scratching off portions of the black crayon, revealing the colors below? A similar process is mastered by J. Blake as you can see in examples of her scratchboard art.

My first purchase on Etsy, less than one month after I opened my shop EDCCollective with my mom in 2009, was from this artist. I don't remember how I stumbled across her wonderful artwork on Etsy but I was taken with the detail and presence she imbued in her subjects. Much of her work was close ups or portraits of wild creatures. Whether a local squirrel or an exotic tiger, the images were well executed and engaging. I especially liked her images of big cats.

I purchased a set of five, 5x7 note cards that were reproductions of her originals. I framed and hung them in the entrance to my office. My husband named the grouping cats and snacks, which I found to be quite humorous. I had not been going for a theme when I picked the five images that I wanted. I just picked the five I liked the best. Unfortunately her Etsy shop is no longer open but you can see other examples of her work at her link above.

New England Snow Woes

In New England, Boston seems to be the poster child this year for record snowfall. This winter's snowfall in Boston is already the second heaviest on record with only about 9 inches (as I'm writing this) needed to vault them into the number one spot with a good two months of potential snowfall still to go this winter. Boston's February snowfall total this year is already in first place. Much of New England has also experienced heavier than average or record breaking snow totals. Who would blame anyone living in the area for thinking that all this snow was going to end when pigs fly?

I'll admit I’m a wimp when it comes to winter precipitation and cold. Ice and snow can be pretty and I even enjoy it is small doses. In north Texas we can get a heavy snowfall this time of year as we saw during the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2010 but thankfully it never hangs around for very long due to our crazy temperature fluctuations this time of year. So my hat is off to those of you braving the cold and the frozen precipitation in other parts of the country. I have followed some of your reported weather conditions on Etsy forum threads and have shuddered. Here is hoping you stay warm and safe and haven't gone crazy from cabin fever by the time your spring arrives.