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Photo: Kellen McCluskey

Thursday, April 25

Special thanks to everyone who attended or helped with our Earth Day Adkins last Saturday! You truly made it a wonderful and special day.

Naturally Better Landscaping Workshops

HOA members are invited to participate in an eight-part speaker series hosted by Adkins Arboretum. The series was developed as part of the Naturally Better Landscaping project in partnership with ShoreRivers with funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust. All programs are free for HOA members, $10 for Arboretum members, and $15 for the general public. Advance registration is required.

The series will kick off on June 2 with an introductory presentation at Chesapeake College’s Eastern Shore Higher Education Center. Subsequent presentations will be held at the Arboretum and explore topics including the impact and history of lawns, native meadow installation and maintenance, designing for seasonal color, and supporting wildlife with native plants.

The Naturally Better Landscaping project strives to educate and empower local homeowner associations to adopt environmentally-friendly landscaping practices. Currently, eight homeowners associations in Queen Anne’s and Talbot Counties are taking part. The project is supported by Queen Anne’s County officials and was prompted by the passage of Maryland House Bill 322, which prohibits HOA governing bodies from restricting homeowners who employ landscaping techniques that benefit the environment. 

Using native plants and other environmentally friendly techniques, such as leaving the leaves, reducing turf, and finding alternatives to toxic fertilizers and pesticides, homeowners can help support wildlife and keep our waterways clean. Land, water, and wildlife are inextricably linked, and the choices homeowners make play an important role in safeguarding our environment.

Click here to register for one or all programs. We hope to see you there!

Photo: Kellen McCluskey

Join biologist Dan Small on May 16 at 10 a.m. for a talk about early successional habitat and the importance of creating a network of habitats while maintaining a working landscape. The Natural Lands Project (NLP) was created in 2015 with the goal of reversing declining wildlife populations, most notably Northern Bobwhite, while improving water quality within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. NLP works with private and public landowners who are interested in creating a balance on their properties between wildlife habitat and productive agriculture. There will be an optional meadow walk after the presentation.

Dan is the Natural Lands Stewardship associate director at Washington College's Center for Environment and Society. He has over 20 years of experience in avian research and banding, habitat restoration and stewardship (specifically grasslands), and Northern Bobwhite monitoring and management.

Northern Bobwhite quail. Photo: All About Birding.

The Momlets Plus One: Jim Wilson, Rhonda Tuel, Melissa Clark, and

Madison Palmer, Adkins Youth Program Coordinator (missing from photo is Aubrey Clark)

The goal of the completion is for the team to find and identify as many different species of birds as they can while birding from midnight to midnight on May 11.

For the sixth year in a row, the Adkins team is raising money for the Adkins Children's Nature Education Program under the leadership of Madison Palmer. So far this year, 750 students have spent a day of education and exploration at Adkins. By the year's end, over 4,000 students will have come through the program. As expected, this many visitors take a toll on the equipment and other supplies used by the instructors and students. 

Please consider donating to this year's team for the Adkins Children's Nature Education programs. You can do this by donating a set amount or pledging a specific amount for each species identified. For example, if you pledge 25 cents for each species found and the team finds 100 species, the donation amount will be $25. If you pledge $1 per species, the amount will be $100. The team anticipates finding 140 species. 

No pledge is too small or too large! Last year, you donated $650, and it made a difference. This year, we set a goal of $1,000 because of the large increase in the number of students attending. Please contact Kellen McCluskey at Adkins for questions and to donate. If you are interested in helping with the children's education programs, please contact Madison. Many hands make the task easier!*

The bird walk before the Earth Day festivities at Adkins yielded 45 species of birds. Migration is picking up steam, as evidenced by the new bird species we found compared to last week. We found Scarlet Tanager, Great Crested Flycatcher, Black and White Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo and Blue-headed Vireo. The woods were ringing with the songs of the Louisiana Waterthrush and Ovenbirds. 

Saturday morning bird walks continue on April 27 and May 4. We meet in the Adkins parking lot at 8 am. I hope to see you then. Check the Adkins calendar for the dates for Slow Birding. The first date is May 16 at 6:30 p.m.

Please contact me at wlsngang@verizon.net if you have any questions. 

Jeobirdy Answer: Earth Day celebrations began on this date.

Jeobirdy Question: What is April 22, 1970? A massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, brought environmental issues to the forefront of public consciousness. Twenty-two million people across the country came out in support of environmental reform.

Jeobirdy Answer: In December 1970, Congress authorized this government agency to help protect the environment.

Jeobirdy Question: What is the Environmental Protection Agency?



* This proverb was first recorded in English in the early 1300s in a knightly romance known as Sir Bevis of Hampton.

Jim Wilson

Birder/Arboretum volunteer

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