Help Save the Planet in your Own Backyard!
New content was added to this lens on 6/28/2009.
Hello and welcome to our backyard! My family has been involved in creating a backyard habitat over the last year and now I am ready to share our experiences with a larger audience. A backyard habitat is a wonderful hobby for the entire family. It can be as large or as small as you want it to be. You can start small with babysteps or go gung-ho with projects galore! It can be as economical or as expensive as you want it to be. But most of all, a backyard habitat should be FUN and the rewards continue afterwards as you sit back and watch the animals come to find food, water, and a safe haven within your property!
A backyard habitat is a year-round adventure and there is always room to add or improve.
Note: All photos on this lens, not including book cover images provided by Amazon.com, were taken by me or a family member.
Welcome to Our Backyard Habitat!
(Added 4/10/2008) Spring is here and our flower beds have just been prepped for the season. We have new beds for butterfly and hummingbird gardens. Many of our herbs survived over the winter. We also started many plants from seeds, like nasturtiums and sunflowers, which are growing like crazy all over the kitchen counter! The birds and squirrels have been eating bird seed and dried corn like crazy! My 2-year old son is starting to be able to recognize birds and call them by name, while my almost 5-year old daughter is planning her "rainbow" garden bed.
These photos were taken through a window. Hopefully, I will replace them soon with clearer photos once I learn how to get outside with my camera without scaring away the birds!
Most of the squirrels around our house are gray, but at least one black squirrel comes to our yard to eat sunflower seeds.
For more infromation on how to create your own certified wildlife habitat, go to
www.nwf.org/backyard.
For inspiration, watch "Backyard Habitat" on Animal Planet (check out the show's info at Backyard Habitat), but remember that you can do this on your own without the help of a television crew!
NEW!!! (Added 6/26/2009) It's been a while since I posted to this lens and our backyard habitat has been growing! My husband continues to buy and plant many native plants and trees. The best native plants to buy are those that reseed themselves, spread over a larger area each season, or can be easily divided to save money on future purchases! Black-eyed Susans are one example of a great native plant that spreads easily here in Maryland - no wonder it is our State Flower! In Spring, it is easy to go to the Black-eyed Susan area in our yard and dig up the new plants (with their roots) for transplanting. We will never need to spend money on Black-eyed Susans again! But don't worry local plant nursery owners - my husband will just use this money to buy other plants!
3 Books and a 1 DVD to Get You Started:
Welcoming Wildlife to the Garden: Creating Backyard and Balcony Habitats for Wildlife
Amazon Price: $14.93 (as of 12/26/2009) 
The Backyard Birdhouse Book: Building Nestboxes and Creating Natural Habitats
Amazon Price: (as of 12/26/2009)
Best of Backyard Habitat
If the show isn't available on TV, don't worry - this DVD is a great collection of complete shows from the series. My family has this DVD and enjoys watching it together. The DVD's menu lists the shows according to the main animals that each backyard habitat is hoping to attract (i.e. Painted Turtles, Hummingbirds,...). Choose the shows that feature animals in your area or watch them all to learn about the animals in different regions of the United States!
Amazon Price: $7.49 (as of 12/26/2009)
A Home for Purple Martins
NEW! (Added 6/26/09) To keep you up-to-date, we decided to take down the new purple martin house and donate it to the local arboretum. Between the existing trees and the newly added trees, we realized that the purple martins probably would not like the house (plus the sparrows always seem to find the house first) as they prefer a birdhouse in a wide open area in order to be able to see any predators.
Resources on Purple Martins:
The Stokes Purple Martin Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting and Housing Purple Martins (Stokes Backyard Nature Books)
Amazon Price: $10.07 (as of 12/26/2009)
Gourd-Style Purple Martin House
Amazon Price: (as of 12/26/2009)
Purple Martin - Audubon Plush Bird (Authentic Bird Sound)
Amazon Price: $4.50 (as of 12/26/2009)
What You Should Know About the Purple Martin
Amazon Price: (as of 12/26/2009)
The Baby Barn Swallows
Three summers ago a barn swallow choose to build her nest under the front porch roof. It took me a while to get a photo that showed all four babies at the same time - they were startled everytime we opened the front door.
New! (Added on 6/26/09) The barn swallows returned last summer and again this summer. The nest was recently reinforced and its sides were built up a little higher with mud and twigs. It has been a few days since I saw the barn swallows so I am not sure if there are eggs or not.
Mama Barn Swallow Feeds Her Babies
I managed to get a photo of the mother barn swallow feeding her baby birds before she realized what I was doing.
The Nesting Boxes
Hopefully, next year the barn swallows will return and build nests in the new nesting boxes my husband and daughter constructed by reusing old wooden window boxes from our house.
New! (Added 6/26/09) Still no birds nesting in the boxes. Perhaps they need a top that extends further for more protection?
For more information on barn swallows and how you can help them with nest-building, please go to Barn Swallows.
Our Own Very Hungry Caterpillar
Caterpillars apparently like parsley and dill - a few of them decided that our herb garden was actually an all-you-can-eat buffet!
For more infromation on what caterpillars eat, go to Host Plants for Caterpillars: Feeding Baby Butterflies.
Books on Butterflies and More:
The Butterfly Book: A Kid's Guide to Attracting, Raising, and Keeping Butterflies
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 12/26/2009)
Attracting Butterflies & Hummingbirds to Your Backyard: Watch Your Garden Come Alive With Beauty on the Wing (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book)
Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 12/26/2009)
Ortho's All About Attracting Hummingbirds and Butterflies (Ortho's All About Gardening)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/26/2009)
Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Other Winged Wonders to Your Backyard
Amazon Price: (as of 12/26/2009)
A Future Home for Bluebirds
We have a bluebird house set up in the backyard and one out front. No bluebirds yet, but it can take a few years for bluebirds to locate the new available housing ,especially if they have been driven from an area by development.
For basic information on the structure and location requirements for a bluebird house, go to www.shawcreekbirdsupply.com.
Note: In case you were wondering, those 3 green objects around the tree to the left of the birdhouse are sections of a "swim noodle" that I cut to length, split down one side with a knife through to the hollow core, and placed around the wire connecting the new tree to the stakes. I did this before my daughter's birthday party so that a child unfamiliar with our backyard would not get hurt running into a wire.
Resources on Bluebirds:
The Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds (A Stokes Backyard Nature Book)
Amazon Price: $10.07 (as of 12/26/2009)
Bluebirds And Their Survival
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 12/26/2009)
The Bluebird Monitor's Guide to Bluebirds and Other Small Cavity Nesters
Amazon Price: $14.49 (as of 12/26/2009)
Eastern Bluebird - Audubon Plush Bird (Authentic Bird Sound)
Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 12/26/2009)
The Rabbit Motel: Vacancies, Small Cozy Rooms, Newly Refurbished!
Checking for Rabbits!
Resources on Rabbits and other Wildlife:
Wildlife in the Garden, Expanded Edition: How to Live in Harmony with Deer, Raccoons, Rabbits, Crows, and Other Pesky Creatures
Amazon Price: $10.70 (as of 12/26/2009)
Welcoming Wildlife: Creating Backyard and Balcony Habitats for Wildlife
Amazon Price: $18.96 (as of 12/26/2009)
Frog and Snake Habitats
My husband created another habitat by placing logs and rocks securely under a plastic bin that we already had for outside storage. Since we have already seen at least one snake in this area previously, I am sure that snakes and not frogs will soon be the new homeowners!
Photos to be added soon!
Learn More About Frogs and Snakes
The Frogs and Toads of North America: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification,Behavior, and Calls
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/26/2009)
Esschert Design Toadhouse
Amazon Price: $16.99 (as of 12/26/2009)
Endangered Animals and Habitats - Frogs and Toads
Amazon Price: (as of 12/26/2009)
The New Encyclopedia of Snakes
Amazon Price: $23.10 (as of 12/26/2009)
Snakes: Ecology and Conservation
Amazon Price: $48.35 (as of 12/26/2009)
The Hummingbirds are Here!
Resources for Hummingbirds
Stokes Hummingbird Book : The Complete Guide to Attracting, Identifying, and Enjoying Hummingbirds
Amazon Price: $10.07 (as of 12/26/2009)
A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America (Peterson Field Guides)
Amazon Price: $14.96 (as of 12/26/2009)
Perky Pet 209 "Our Best" Hummingbird Feeder, 30 oz capacity
Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 12/26/2009)
HUMMINGBIRD NECTAR16 RED
Amazon Price: $4.09 (as of 12/26/2009)
Garden Jewels® 455-3 14-Ounce Glass Window Mounted Hummingbird Feeder
Amazon Price: $16.99 (as of 12/26/2009)
Share your comments or tell us about your own backyard habitat experience!
Thanks for stopping by. Please come visit my lens again!
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Reply
- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Dec 10, 2009 @ 8:40 am
- The Robin in the Rain flew over to wish you a Merry Christmas and to thank you for creating such an inviting backyard habitat.
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- spirituality spirituality Jul 19, 2009 @ 8:00 am
- Thanks for educating the world and contributing to environmental awareness and changing lifestyle. This lens is featured on my Environment lensography - perhaps you want to sport the badge?
http://www.squidoo.com/environment-lensography#module46965852
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Reply
- CoolFoto CoolFoto Jan 5, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
- We have put up 2 bird feeders to attract birds. 5* and lens roll to www.squidoo.com/hawkbirds .
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- Aug 14, 2008 @ 12:28 am
- I also have a lot of space in my backyard and right now, I'm into vegetable gardening and aside from my personalized checks business, I earn a lot from my garden selling vegetables and even do my gardening ideas when I do a little bit of my home staging stint coz I'm also a home stager! anyway, thanks for sharing this lens & I have learned another idea for my backyard!
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- spirituality spirituality Jun 12, 2008 @ 3:01 am
- Great lens. I featured it on my new lensography on the environment. Go check it out and add your favorite environment links to the plexo: http://www.squidoo.com/environment-lensography
There's also a duel about the question: is the environment more important, or the economy?
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by JJ37
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