Randi Minetor - Backyard Birding and Butterfly Gardening

Birders across the country continue to be delighted to share their sightings, skills, and backyards with fellow enthusiasts. We cant say enough about all the people who opened their yards and nurseries to us, and who pointed us in the direction of our targeted birds, butterflies, plants, shrubs, trees, and landscapes.

Many thanks to the members of the Rochester Birding Association in western New York State, as well as friends and neighbors in western New York and far beyond. For their help in filling the first edition of this book, we thank Randy Anderson, Pam Bartlemus, Bob Beal, Doug Beattie, Linda Bender, Nancy Casper, John Colagrosso, Amy and Jim Cot, Laurie Dirkx, Karl Goldsmith, Kevin Griffith, Lucretia Grosshans, Bonnie Hawk and Robin Hamm, Bob and Muriel Haggerty, Diane Henderson, Karen Huey, Vicki Kadow, Jim Kimball, Paula and Rich Landis, Ann McCracken, Jane Miller, Gay Mills, Jim Moser, John and Suzanne Olson, Andy Rueby, Martha and Peter Schermerhorn, Gretchen Voss, and Bethany Zinni Brooks, all of whom allowed us into their backyards to photograph birds, feeders, and gardens.

Our quest to find native plant species across the country led us to Rock-ingtree Floral & Garden Center in Sturgis, South Dakota, where owner Carol Hallock and her staff provided tremendous assistance.

We are always grateful to the Bird House in Rochester for their ongoing support, allowing us to photograph some of the items in their stores extensive inventory, and inviting us in for book signings and other special events.

Southeastern Arizona is a magical place with many more than its fair share of hummingbird and oriole species. Luckily for its human visitors, several homeowners open their property to bird enthusiasts so that we can see these extraordinary birds. We cant say enough about the late Mary Jo Ballator and what is now the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary in Hereford, Arizona; the Paton Center for Hummingbirds, formerly the Paton residence in Patagonia, Arizona, and now managed by the Tucson Audubon Society; and the Madera Kubo Bed & Breakfast in Madera Canyon, Arizona.

For this second edition, we add our thanks to the Baldpate Inn outside of Rocky Mountain National Park for allowing us to photograph broad-tailed hummingbirds at their feeders; and Dominic Sherony for his loan of excellent photos, his insights, and his assistance with tricky identifications. Lucretia Gross-hans and Shirley Shaw provided their knowledge of butterflies as well, for which we are most grateful.

In addition to so many individual backyards, we spent a great deal of time in Americas backyardat last count, we shot photos for this book at no less than thirty-eight national parks, monuments, and historic sites, from Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Fort Bowie in Arizona and Mount Rainier in Washington. We extend a special thanks to all of the national park rangers and volunteers who directed us to birding locations, blooming wildflowers, and shrubs full of berries across the nation.

We thank all of our relatives and friends who support us with their hospitality during our travels and their good wishes at home: my brother and sister-inlaw, Mike Bassow and Merry Guild, and our friends and hosts Dawn and Kevin Wiley, Ken Horowitz and Rose-Anne Moore, Lisa Jacomma and Kevin Hyde, Richard and Jane Patterson, and Diane and Chris Hardy.

Many, many thanks to Rick Rinehart and the team at Lyons Press for their work in bringing this book to fruition. Regina Ryan, agent extraordinaire, continues to shepherd us through one project after another with such grace and goodwill.

A male Rivolis hummingbird rests in the sunlight

Spotting an indigo bunting turns nonbirders into birders

Spring Checklist

Feeders and Seed

• Take all of your feeders down and clean them thoroughly. Disinfect with a weak solution of one part household bleach to ten parts water.
• Get your hummingbird and oriole feeders out: early April for the southern states, early May in the North.
• Discard any remaining butcher suet as soon as daily temperatures rise above 40 degrees. Switch to packaged all season or no melt suet blends.
• Get out your mealworm feeder and add mealworms to attract bluebirds. Use live mealworms until the weather gets too hot for them.

Birdbaths and Ponds

• Remove water defrosters from your birdbaths. Clean and store them for next winter.
• Clean your birdbaths and refill them.
• Do a wet run of your water circulators (pumps) to make sure theyre functioning properly. Check all electrical connections and repair or replace if necessary.
• Skim winter detritus off of the surface of your pond. Add barley or other algae inhibitor.

Nest Boxes

• Check all your nesting boxes for signs that birds roosted in them over the winter.
• If the boxes have been used, scrape out and clean them before birds begin nesting.
• Put out nesting material in suet cages or seed wreaths, or on its own.

Garden

• Its finally time to snip last years blossoms from your perennials.
• Pick or prune off any remaining berries from last years crop and discard.