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Posts from the ‘The Natural World’ Category

Jun 1

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National Trails Day

Tomorrow — Saturday, June 2, 2012 is National Trails Day!

Since 1993, the first Saturday of every June has been designated to inspire the general public and hiking enthusiasts alike to discover and celebrate America’s expansive trail network — comprising over 200,000 miles of trails. You can participate in a local hike, dog walk, cycle, horseback ride, help in a trail maintenance project, kayak, birdwatch, and so much more. It’s easy to forget how much work goes into trails’ planning, development, and upkeep: National Trails Day thanks the countless volunteers and partners for their support and grueling work.

National Trails Day also introduces many people — those who may not otherwise visit parks and trails — to all of their benefits. The day further highlights trails that people didn’t even know existed. I try to do this as well in this blog — after hearing many friends unaware of the magnificent parks and trails in their backyards (see Natural Areas and State & National Parks dropdowns, above — or the Categories section to the right). In today’s world, it’s critical to get outdoors and into nature. Hiking — even simple walks — gets the heart pumping, the muscles relaxed and stretched, and is an excellent way to improve overall health. It’s also cheap! Exploring these serene environments will help you decompress and find solitude as well; I often wander alone, watching and photographing as I stroll the natural areas.

Find an event near you for a National Trails Day event. Celebrate nature and promote our country’s parks and trails! I have far too many trail pictures to share (as proven in my past posts!), so I’ll revisit a few of my favorite areas, if that’s possible:

A most beautiful path in Riverbend (Jupiter, FL)

Cypress Swamp Along the Florida Trail

Into the Swamp, Florida Trail Extension (Jonathan Dickinson Trail)

Prairie Overlook Trail, Fern Forest

Sheltering Trees of the Florida Trail Extension (Jonathan Dickinson Trail)

Gorgeous Oaks of the Florida Trail Extension (Jonathan Dickinson Trail)

Cypress Swamp, Historic Jupiter-Indiantown Trail, Cypress Creek Natural Area

Boardwalk, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

May 3

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Creating Our Backyard Wildlife Habitat: Step One, Provide Food

There have been many wonderful comments from people explaining how they’re creating natural habitats for their wildlife critters in their personal spaces (usually birds, but not always) — some of whose populations have suffered a decline in recent years. It’s crucial in our modern culture/society to do so; It doesn’t take much to provide a wee bit of food, water, and shelter for these guys…. Besides, it calms the soul to view nature. ♥

Here, Nature Mom teaches her son how to create a backyard wildlife habitat, something anyone can do, in any environment — I had a great little set-up in a former apartment. Following guidelines provided by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), she details the creation and necessary resources for her local wildlife….

Linda Bernardi's avatarSuburban Nature Explorations

Today my son and I began working towards making our backyard into a Certified Wildlife Habitat, per the guidelines provided by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). I figured it would be best for my four-year-old if we only focus on one aspect of certification at at a time. Our focus today? Step one: Provide Food for Wildlife.

Certification requires that the backyard provide three food sources, selected from the following list:

  • Seeds
  • Nuts
  • Berries
  • Fruits
  • Nectar
  • Sap
  • Foliage / Twigs
  • Pollen
  • Supplemental Feeders
    • Seed
    • Suet
    • Hummingbird
    • Squirrel
    • Butterfly

This was a fun, educational activity to work through with my son. What in our yard is food for wildlife? What could we add that wildlife could eat? What animals might eat each of the items on this list?

We decided our yard provides nuts (acorns from the oak tree), nectar (the rosemary flowers), and seed (supplemental bird feeders). We…

View original post 126 more words

May 3

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Creating Our Backyard Wildlife Habitat: Step Two, Supply Water

Step 2 in the guidelines set forth by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), in the creation of a backyard wildlife habitat: Supply Water!

Linda Bernardi's avatarSuburban Nature Explorations

For those of you who are following us, you know that yesterday my son and I started to create a wildlife habitat in our backyard, following the guidelines set by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). Yesterday our focus was on providing food sources for wildlife. Today, we worked on step two… supply water for wildlife.

Certification requires that the backyard provide one water source, selected from the following list:

  • Lakefront
  • Seasonal Pond
  • Coastal
  • Birdbath
  • Water Garden / Pond
  • Rain Garden
  • Lake
  • River / Stream
  • Spring
  • Shallow Dish
  • Puddling Area

In the past, providing water in our yard for wildlife wasn’t something I thought about. Actually, my focus was on emptying out any little bit of pooled water I could find, as I don’t want any mosquitoes breeding in the yard. Also, there is a natural spring just on the other side of our fence, which is primarily what attracts…

View original post 184 more words

May 3

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Creating our Backyard Wildlife Habitat: Step Three, Create Cover

Step 3 in the National Wildlife Federation (NWF)’s guidelines in the creation of a backyard wildlife habitat: Create Cover!

Linda Bernardi's avatarSuburban Nature Explorations

Today was day three of working towards making our backyard into a Certified Wildlife Habitat, per the guidelines provided by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). So far, we’ve completed step 1 (provide food) and step two (supply water).  Our focus today? Create cover for wildlife.

This step in the certification process requires that a backyard has two types of cover for wildlife, selected from the following list:

  • Brush Pile
  • Log Pile
  • Wooded Area
  • Dense Shrubs / Thicket
  • Meadow / Prairie
  • Evergreens
  • Ground Cover
  • Roosting Box
  • Water Garden / Pond
  • Bramble Patch
  • Burrow
  • Cave
  • Rock Pile / Wall

This one was a bit tough for us, though my son had fun trying to build cover with the many sticks he’s collected over the years (photo below). We definitely already have one major cover for wildlife… our deck. But “deck” isn’t one of the items on…

View original post 199 more words

Apr 20

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Happy Earth Day — Love Your Mother

This April 22nd, help celebrate and remember that Earth has always been, and will always be our Mother — and we’re all here together, sharing her valuable and limited resources. Visit the Earth Day Network to learn more of their goal “to broaden, diversify, and activate the environmental community and make Earth Day a powerful moment for all citizens of the world to drive the movement.” Love and protect your Mother, every day.

Photo by Cherrylynx, courtesy of the “Digital Earth” series via Art-Profiles.com

Earth Photo Manipulation by Cherrylynx

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