Design This – Gypsum Crystal Necklace

With Christmas and the gift giving that goes with it right around the corner, I got to thinking about a gift I made for my niece for her birthday earlier this year. The two of us went on a field trip of sorts the previous summer and were allowed to collect some gypsum crystals as souvenirs. I remembered the crystals that I had collected when I was pondering what to get her for her birthday.

I cleaned up a few of the crystals and chose the one that I thought would make the nicest pendant. I drilled a small hole in the crystal to anchor the wire that I used to wrap the crystal with. I placed one of the spirals that I created over the anchoring hole on the front of the crystal. Once the crystal was wrapped securely, I attached it to a black cord necklace.

I have not done a lot of wire wrapping, however I was very pleased with the way this pendant turned out. I enjoyed being able to turn a simple souvenir into a wearable keepsake of the trip.

If you have a special souvenir that you would like to have incorporated into a piece of jewelry contact me to see if I can come up with a custom solution for you.

Fabulous Finds for Last Minute Shoppers

Really unique gifts can often be found by “shopping small”. This concept should not be reserved only for Small Business Saturday. Those of you still looking for that special gift would be wise to check out local mom and pop stores, craft shows and other local shopping opportunities.

Once such place in the DFW Metroplex is the Happy Holidays Gift Store that is part of the Festival of Trees Exhibit at the Arlington Museum of Art. It will be open Saturday, Dec. 21 from 10 am – 5 pm and on Sunday, Dec. 22 from 1 pm – 5 pm for you to search for that special gift and enjoy the festive holiday decorations and Santa art in the rest of the exhibit. Fifteen local artisans have their work on display along with a few vintage finds. You can shop for wall art, jewelry, pottery and much, much more. In addition, on Saturday, Dec. 21, one of the store’s artisans will be demonstrating her work with encaustics.

After Christmas if you are lucky enough to be flush with Christmas cash and are looking for a fabulous find for yourself, come back and browse Thursday – Saturday, Dec. 26 – 28 from 10 am – 5 pm and the final day of the exhibit, Sunday, Dec. 29 from 1 pm – 5 pm.

Invasives and the Decline of the Texas Horned Toad

While habitat destruction ranks as the number one reason for loss of species and biodiversity, the invasion of exotic species (aka invasives) ranks number two. When aggressive invasives crowd out a native species it can often have a ripple effect on other native species.

One example of this that has happened while I have lived in Texas is the decline of the Texas horned lizard (aka horned toad). When I was in high school I was lucky enough to see some horned lizards in their native habitat. We also had a large harvester ant nest near the back of the pasture. At the time I didn't know about the link between that ant mound and the horned lizards. The ants didn't cause any trouble though so we left them alone.

Unfortunately, the invasive fire ants did cause trouble for the native harvester ants. They crowded them out and took over their territory. This spelled trouble for the horned lizard. Harvester ants are their main source of food. Isn't any ant as good to eat as another, you may ask? Unfortunately not, or at least not as easy to eat. The way fire ants swarm make them difficult for the horned lizard to make a meal of them without getting harmed. The horned lizard is now a protected species, due in large part, to the ripple effect of invasive fire ants crowding out the horned lizard's main food source, the harvester ant.

While it is unlikely that I will get a chance to spy a horned lizard in my area of Texas anymore, I did get excited that I might have actually seen one a few years ago. I caught a glimpse of a brown, spiky lizard. However as I was trying to remember exactly what a horned lizard looked like from many years before, the lizard turned around and it had a very long tail. Then I knew it wasn't a horned lizard. I did a bit of research and found out that the mystery lizard was a Texas spiny lizard. They are slimmer, not as spiky and have a longer tail than the horned lizard. While I miss seeing those iconic "horny toads", my property seems to have become a haven for the spiny lizard. That is a good thing for me since their diet consists of a wide range of insects.

But I digress, back to the plight of the TX horned lizard and other native plants and animals that suffer at the spread of invasives. You can help by educating yourself about invasives so you don't help them spread and by participating in citizen scientist projects like the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Sentinel Pest Network and Invaders of Texas Program that the center partners with.

Thanks for the Treasuries - November 2013

Five different Etsians let me know that they featured one or more of my items in a treasury during November. Four November Etsy treasuries, that treasury makers let me know about, included one of my creations. Two other treasuries included one item from each of my shops. You can see a collage below of my items from EDCCollective and EclecticSkeptic that were featured during November. (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 (in alphabetical order) links to the 6 Etsy sellers that let me know that they 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 shop links of anything that catches your eye.

AstaArtwork
OOAK original acrylic paintings on canvas, ink and watercolor drawings, artwork and prints, greeting cards and sets, handmade brooches and souvenirs.

BethieFliesToo
Handmade fabric creations featuring fun art doll creations and more.

BrankletsNBling
Get your sparkle on. Beautiful bling for every outfit in your closet from this jewelry artist.


HotDogCrafts
Holiday ornaments and stocking stuffer ideas in the form of earrings, pins & necklaces are found here.

JustAddJewelry
This shop is stocked with earrings, earring organizers, gift tags and confetti.

Happy Holidays Gift Market 2013

The weekend of Dec. 7-8 at the Mitch Wilson Memorial Festival of Trees Exhibit at the Arlington Museum of Art will be a very special and fun weekend. In addition to the beautifully decorated trees and the Happy Holidays Gift Store (that my items are part of), Tom Newsom (the artist whose Santa Art is on display) will be there to sign autographs, live holiday entertainment will be going on part of the day and almost 30 additional artisans will be there with their creations as part of the Happy Holidays Gift Market. As a gift to the community, the Arlington Museum of Art will have free admission to the Festival of Trees for this weekend. (The first photo shows a decorated tree and a piece of Tom Newsom's Santa art. The second photo shows a portion of my favorite tree in the exhibit.)


The Gift Market’s artisans will be set up on three floors of the museum. They will have an exciting array of items from handmade dolls to creations made from wine corks to fairy house nightlights and much, much more. Some participating artisans are listed on the Happy Holidays Happenings event page in the Happy Holidays Gift Market section. Click their button to be taken to their online presence to get a preview of some of the items you can expect at the market. Others have Etsy shops and can be found on the Etsy Local listing for the Happy Holidays Gift Market.

Additional fun can be found in Downtown Arlington on Saturday, Dec. 7. Check out information for the Holiday Lights Parade festivities which include the Elf show at the Levitt Pavilion. Grab some friends and family and come out for a day of fun, including finding fabulous finds for those special people on your gift list. Maybe you'll even find something fabulous to treat yourself to. Remember, the Happy Holidays Gift Market is at the museum on both Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7-8.

Etsy adds new Feature, Etsy Local

In the past whenever I have attended a craft show or some other opportunity when I had the chance to have people see me and my creations in person, I added a bit to my Etsy shop announcement in case anyone local to me read it and wanted to come out. (I know of one instance for sure when someone actually came to a show I was at because of my announcement.) Etsy has added a new feature to make it easy to see if a particular seller will be at an upcoming market or to find a show populated at least in part by some Etsy sellers.

This new feature is called Etsy Local. Etsy’s announcement to the Etsy community contained the following:
“Etsy is all about connecting people and communities. We've seen how local craft fairs give sellers new opportunities to expand their businesses, and help our community grow. To spread the word about these local events and bring our online communities to the offline, we’re excited to introduce Etsy Local. This free, new feature will help shoppers connect with Etsy sellers who are participating in fairs and markets in their local area.

Shoppers can search by location and timeframe to see where Etsy sellers have set up shop. In addition to basic information like the event’s date, time, and venue, Etsy Local provides buyers with a list of sellers who’ve confirmed their attendance, as well as links to those sellers' Etsy shops.”

There are two ways that I currently know of to find information through Etsy Local. If you want to know if a particular seller is participating in any markets, scroll down the left column in their shop and if they have joined any events. If they have you will see “x upcoming market(s)” between their number of sales and number of admirers. Click that button to see information about the market(s) they will be attending. If you want to find a market near you that Etsy sellers will be participating in, go directly to Etsy Local, https://www.etsy.com/local , and put in your location and time frame to get a list of shows near you and to find out what Etsy sellers will be at them.

(Click on the images to enlarge them. These images are screenshots taken from Etsy’s website to illustrate what you will see when you click on either method of accessing Etsy Local described above.)

Not all Bluestem are Blue Ribbon Winners

One would think with a name like King Ranch Bluestem that this plant would be a Texan through and through. Not so however, aka KR Bluestem, this grass was introduced as forage for livestock. Now it is considered an invasive plant that is detrimental to many native species, not blue ribbon winner behavior. The bluestem portion of the name is also somewhat misleading. While it is considered a clumping grass, it does not tend to form the nice tight bunches or clumps of the native little or big bluestem grasses.

Native bluestems make great additions to the landscape. I first fell in love with little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium, seeing it along roadsides. I love the blue green foliage that persists throughout the summer. I have added some clumps to my garden in order to incorporate that lovely color. The seed heads are interesting and once bitten by winter freezes, the grass makes a nice ornamental focal point in rusty browns. I don’t cut the clumps back until just before new growth starts in the spring.

Big bluestem, Andropogon gerardii, is not quite as pretty year round as little bluestem but it has its place in the garden. Big bluestem is late to get growing in the spring and I find its foliage to be a bit coarse. Where it really shines though is in its stand out fall bloom period. The three fingered “turkey foot” seed heads grow very tall and are striking to look at. I plant mine so that other plants around it take center stage until the big bluestem puts on its show late summer or early fall.

Consider adding these two native ornamental grasses to your landscape. They are very drought tolerant. In fact, if you are too generous with the water you will encourage too much growth and the plants will get floppy on you come late summer or fall when they elongate and put out their seed heads. Little and big bluestem ARE blue ribbon winners in my book.

Thanks for the Treasuries - October 2013

Three different Etsians and one Etsy team let me know that they had featured one or more of my items in a treasury during October. Six October Etsy treasuries, that treasury makers let me know about, included one of my creations. You can see a collage below of my items from EDCCollective and EclecticSkeptic that were featured during October. (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 (in alphabetical order) links to the 3 Etsy sellers that let me know that they featured one 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 shop links of anything that catches your eye.


BrankletsNBling
Get your sparkle on. Beautiful bling for every outfit in your closet from this jewelry artist.

CorkyCrafts
If you have a wine connoisseur who happens to appreciate hand made items look no further than this shop's wine-related products. They make the perfect gift!

MagnoliaSurprise
Crochet play food, toys and afghans for the kids; fun coasters, pin cushions and more for your home are found in this adorable shop.

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 – Susan Ashley

During this past year another piece of gourd art spoke to me and asked to be taken home. While it has some similarities to my previous gourd art purchase, it also has some big differences. It has a wonderful applied patina that complements the other natural elements of the piece similar in this concept to my first piece. The gourd edge is woven with cording however, instead of being edged with pine needles. While the other piece is wonderfully wild, this piece has a more classical quality to it. The bottom of the piece is actually the top cut off of another gourd. Two stones, one attached to the stem end of the gourd to create a stable base and the other wrapped in cording to create a focal element for the piece echo the colors of the other elements.



I have watched the creators of both of my gourds work on new pieces and I have been totally fascinated. You have an opportunity to watch Susan demonstrate the art of basket weaving during the artist demonstrations that are part of the Arlington Museum of Art’s Mitch Wilson Memorial Festival of Trees. She will be the artist featured on Saturday, November 23, 2013. I think you will be as fascinated as I was watching her work.

In addition to the artist demonstrations, beautifully decorated trees and other holiday trimmings, the Festival of Trees contains the Happy Holidays Gift Store full of handmade items from local artisans as well as some vintage finds.

Where in the Metroplex will you find EclecticDesignChoices this Holiday Season?

About this time of year I begin sharing the locations of the different craft shows that I will be participating in case you want to see me and my work in person. This year I’m going to share a slightly different venue with you.

My alter ego to EclecticDesignChoices, 817ArtsAlliance, is partnering with the Arlington Museum of Art (AMA) to bring three different opportunities to local artisans and the public who like to support local artists. Two of these will also include opportunities for collectors and lovers of vintage items. Collectively, these opportunities are known as Happy Holidays Happenings. The Happenings consist of the Happy Holidays Gift Store, Happy Holidays Artisan Demonstrations and the Happy Holidays Gift Market and will be part of the museum’s Mitch Wilson Memorial Festival of Trees Exhibit.

EclecticDesignChoices will be part of the Happy Holidays Gift Store. The holiday store will be open during the entire Festival of Trees during regular museum hours. Several local artisans and collectors will have their wares available for purchase in the store which we will staff. This means that while you will be able to see my work in person for an extended period of time, I won’t always be there.

The Festival of Trees, including the Happy Holidays Gift Store, will open for the AMA member’s reception Thursday night, Nov. 7 but will open to the public on Saturday, November 2 and continue through Sunday, December 29. The museum is open from 10 am – 5 pm, Tuesdays – Saturdays and 1 pm – 5 pm on Sundays. I hope you get a chance to check out the festive trees and Santa art on display during the Festival of Trees at the Arlington Museum of Art as well as the Happy Holidays Happenings.

New Photographic Art Images by EclecticDesignChoices

A couple of the new images that I took this summer really grabbed my attention and I knew I wanted to blow them up and put them on something other than just paper. I have printed a few photos to canvas previously, which has given me an opportunity to start to develop an understanding of what images are likely to look great printed on gallery wrapped canvases. One of my new dragonfly images seemed to scream, put me on canvas, so I did.

There is another substrate that I have never had my images printed on before

that I thought would be perfect for one of my new waterlily photos. I have seen some images printed on metal and I thought the reflectiveness of the material would lend itself nicely to one of these images. After working with a few of the waterlilies and their reflections I picked one for my first image to be printed on metal. I was very pleased with the results when I received it.

Both of these works will be available in the Happy Holidays Gift Store that will be a part of the Arlington Museum of Art’s Mitch Wilson Memorial Festival of Trees Exhibit from Nov. 1 – Dec. 29, 2013. I will have a couple of different sizes of matted prints on paper of these images as well. Come out and see them in person if you have the chance.

Time to Tuck in Some Winter Annuals

Seasonal color change always used to be a challenge for me. I couldn’t bear to yank out summer annuals that were still blooming their hearts out late in the year. However if I waited until they were killed by the first freeze, their replacements were more difficult to find and didn’t have a chance to get established before really cold weather, so they didn’t bloom much until spring. Thankfully now I know I don’t have to choose between a rock and a hard place. My winter color now gets tucked in without disturbing my summer annuals.

Here in North Texas we are still a little over a month away from our first average killing frost. Pansies, snapdragons, Johnny Jump Ups and dianthus can be found currently in nurseries. This time of year I like to buy them in six packs or 4” square pots. I find that I can tuck in plants this size without disturbing my summer bloomers. By planting my winter annuals now, they can coexist with my summer annuals until they get slimed by that first freeze. By then my winter beauties will have become established and add that needed color spot to an otherwise mainly dormant flower bed.

The photo above shows newly planted pansies tucked around existing Spanish moss rose.

Thanks for the Treasuries - September 2013

Two different Etsians and one Etsy team let me know that they had featured one of my items in a treasury during September. Three September Etsy treasuries, that treasury makers let me know about, included one of my creations. You can see a collage below of my items from EDCCollective that were featured during September. (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 (in alphabetical order) links to the 2 Etsy sellers that let me know that they featured one 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 an item of mine.

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


CorkyCrafts
If you have a wine connoisseur who happens to appreciate hand made items look no further than this shop's wine-related products. They make the perfect gift!

GirlieGals
"It's a Bling Thing!", says this shop owner who offers you sparkle and shine at affordable prices.

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.

Critter Camouflage

Critters of all shapes and sizes, whether hunter or prey, can really blend in. Many critters have developed coloring that mimics the coloring of at least some portion of their surroundings so they can escape prying eyes. The female mallard duck blends into her nesting site. Many butterflies have undersides of wings that mimic leaves or dappled shade so that they “disappear” when they are resting with wings closed. I was surprised one evening last month to find out how well a raccoon’s coloration allowed it to blend into the dappled shade on the trunk of the pear tree that my dog had chased it into.

I did a double take recently when passing by an unused planter of mine. A Texas spiny lizard matched the contour and coloring of the coconut husk and mulch so well that I almost jumped with surprise when I realized how close I was to this camouflaged critter that I had not managed to see until I was practically on top of it. It is examples like these that make me wonder how many of nature’s wonders I pass by with absolutely no clue.

A camouflage expert that I have to be vigilant looking for in my garden is the tomato hornworm. These critters use their camouflage skills to avoid being seen by predators and gardeners alike so they can hang out and enjoy a good meal of pepper and tomato plants and fruit alike. Often I will see their frass to alert me to their presence before I see the caterpillars.

Share your observations of critter camo in the comments section.

Resistor Earrings for the Tech Geek

I'm excited to introduce a new geekery item to my EclecticSkeptic shop. The science, technology or computer geek will enjoy these novelty earrings made from resistors otherwise destined for the landfill. (The green angle to these earrings is an added plus.) I just happened to stumble on a lot of resistors that had been culled and would have been trash if someone hadn't understood that they could become components for jewelry making or other non-functional (electrically speaking) projects.







Two of the three basic colors of resistors that I have available are shown in this post. (tan and light blue) The third base color (gray) can be seen in my resistor earring listing in my EclecticSkeptic Etsy shop. I’m still playing with different styles and methods of combining the resistors with other materials. Each of the three examples is very different. Which is your favorite?

Pond Bridge Replacement – Part 2

In this second installment of our bridge installation, I will pick up from where I left off in part 1. (While the bridge was out of the way I had reset some rocks that were supposed to line the edge of the pond that had been dislodged by critters over time. The prep work for the footings was complete and the support frame for the bridge was assembled and placed on its footings.)

Now it was time to assemble the rest of the bridge. While the frame was relatively easy to move on and off the footings, the completed bridge would have proved difficult due to its weight, so we put the rest of it together in place. First, we screwed down the planks. We had test fit them to the frame while it was inside so that we could place the first one with the proper overhang to allow for the same overhang on the other end once the last plank was screwed in place. The holes were predrilled at the factory through the planks and all but two screws, as we moved from one end of the bridge to the other, went in easily. One of the predrilled holes lined up with a knot in the frame. After predrilling that spot on the frame, the screw readily went in. However the second screw, that would not go in all of the way, seemed to strike a piece of metal buried in the frame. I was unable to drill this spot to accept a screw so I moved over and tried a new pilot hole. Luckily the problem that I had nearby was not persistent. With the planks in place, it was time to assemble the railings.

First we located the center posts in the center of the bridge. Then we attached the end posts such that the horizontal railings slipped into the inset of the posts and their predrilled holes lined up in the center of the posts. One “little” oops occurred as I got ready to place the last end post. While the bridge frame and planks just fit between large rocks on either side of the bridge, part of the posts sit on the outside of the frame and screw into it. It just happened that this last post was on top of a large piece of sandstone that kept it from sliding past the side of the frame. Luckily we have some large masonry bits and this sandstone boulder was somewhat soft so I was able to make a notch in the boulder, to accommodate the post, using my drill. Once this post was in place, we screwed in the rails.

The kit also included pieces of wood meant to go vertically between the frame and the bottom horizontal rail, evenly spaced along the bridge. As we were test fitting these decorative elements, we decided that they blocked more of the view and made the bridge feel more closed in than we wanted, so we left them off. The only thing remaining was to install the decorative elements at the top of each post.

Our completed bridge is very sturdy. I am glad that I spent the extra time on the prep work for the footings. It also was a great idea to assemble the remainder of the bridge in place once we had the frame placed properly on the footings. This is one heavy and solid bridge. I’m betting it lasts longer than the last one.

Thanks for the Treasuries - August 2013

Four different Etsians let me know that they had featured one of my items in a treasury during August. Five August Etsy treasuries, that treasury makers let me know about, included one of my creations. You can see a collage below of my items from EDCCollective and EclecticSkeptic that were featured during August. (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 (in alphabetical order) links to the 3 Etsy sellers that let me know that they featured one of my items, as well as an item from their shop that I like. (The fourth Etsian that featured one of my items does not have a shop.)

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

AllMadeWithLove
This talented Etsian knits and crochets scarves, cowls, capes, shawls, neck warmers, mittens, hats & jackets. That's not all though, she felts and makes leather bracelets and brooches, semiprecious stone necklaces and bracelets.

CindyBurkeOriginals
This shop owner makes unique and one of a kind gemstone, crystal and shell jewelry with bronze, silver, gold and copper.

HotDogCrafts
Great gift ideas in the form of greeting cards, earrings, rings & necklaces are found here.

Artist Spotlight – Robert Hooper

Not only is this artist totally talented but he is also a generous and kind person. I’ve forgotten how I stumbled across his work on Etsy. I’m thinking that it was while looking through someone’s favorites or from viewing a treasury in which one of his awesome images was included. When I clicked on his shop I realized that I might have a difficult time narrowing a purchase choice down to just one image. I spent some time revisiting his shop before making my choice.

The images in Robert’s Etsy shop are predominantly southwestern, Asian, Native American or equine themed. This seemed like an unusual combination to me until I found out that he was born in Japan and currently lives in Arizona. In his Etsy shop you will find unlimited edition, approximately 8x10 reproductions of his work along with 11x14 limited editions. The only small criticism I have is that his work is underpriced IMO. (During further communications with Robert, I now think this is because he genuinely wants people to enjoy his artwork and uses his Etsy shop as a way for people to purchase beautiful artwork at below market prices.) Now pricing is many times a very personal thing to an artist, so I don’t want to insult, especially when he was so generous helping me out when I managed not to pay close enough attention to the listing details to note that the 8x10s were only approximately that size. You can find his original work for sale online as well, and it does seem to be priced much more fairly for the artist. He also participates in art festivals.

Back to that generous bit of help that I received. I wrote to Robert after receiving my lovely print and leaving him positive feedback to let him know that the only disappointment that I had was that I was going to have to take the time and extra funds to get a pricey custom sized mat cut since the image was too narrow to fit in a standard cut 8x10 mat. I thought I was being helpful so that he might update the exact dimensions in the listing so other customers who might not be so understanding wouldn’t leave him a negative. His work and customer service are way too good to have that happen IMO. (I had planned to go through my stash of mats that I mat my photographic art prints with to find a color that I liked and then purchase a premade 11x14 frame in order to hang his print in my house. And yes, I should have been more careful and noticed the approx. in the description, but I only focused on the 8x10 part in the title.) I had not written with any intention of Robert doing anything about this except possibly update the listing for future customers. The response that I got was a very generous offer to cut a mat and send it to me. I asked a couple of times what it would cost, never got an answer but I did get a perfectly cut mat that complements the print perfectly. Since I never could get him to name a price, I sent him a check and told him to make sure to cash it and let me know if I did not send him enough.

Now all I had to do was find a frame. I found one whose detailing reminded me of lotus flowers that was on sale and really showcased the print. I highly recommend this artist to anyone looking for beautiful watercolors of horses, koi, southwestern vistas and more.

Help for Hummingbirds

Migratory creatures seem to be feeling the effects of climate change. Polar bears don’t have as much sea ice as they used to and if temperatures continue to change as they have been monarch butterflies may not receive the temperature signals needed to start them on their way back north. Another migratory species that may need to adapt quickly due to climate change so as not to diminish is the hummingbird. Climate change effects the bloom time of its nectar sources which provide energy for its annual migrations. However, there may be ways you can help hummingbirds as changes happen to their environment.

The Audubon Society has a new citizen scientist project designed to bolster current research by documenting the feeding patterns of hummingbirds. You can find out much more information about why researchers are concerned about hummingbirds and about Audubon’s new Hummingbirds at Home Program at this link. That page also has links to find out about two other Audubon citizen scientist programs, the Christmas Bird Count and the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Many research projects require simply too much data to be collected for an accurate study for one scientist or even group of scientists to collect. Often this data is something that the public is very capable of providing to the researchers for analysis. If you have some time to contribute, please consider joining other citizen scientists as they gather data for researchers to understand what types of changes are currently affecting the world we and creatures such as hummingbirds live in.

(I took the first photo in my backyard and the other at a park in San Angelo.)