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Newsletter of the Baton Rouge Audubon Society Volume XLIV, Number 3 3rd Quarter, 2017

Feeding

I'm often asked "When should I put at a meal. Plus our local experts Check out http://www.casacolibri. my feeders up? When should I take say “more feeders = more birds!” net/winterbanding.asp for more them down?". Hummingbirds are by nature information on these fascinating anti-social creatures and they birds! There have been records I usually tell folks that if you don’t share well, but they seem of winter hummingbirds returning haven't tended your feeders in to be more cooperative at the to Louisiana for as many as six the summer, to start cleaning feeders in the fall than any other or seven years in a row! and putting in fresh nectar their time of year. Probably because feeders around the 4th of July, they realize they would rather eat Another common question I’m because that’s when the number then spend all their time in de- asked is “what is the formula for of hummers at the feeders starts fense mode! They’ll pretty much making nectar?” to pick up. September is really be gone by October, but then it’s The standard formula is 1 part the peak of migration. If you’re time for winter hummingbirds! sugar to 4 parts water, so use ¼ on the hummingbird highway you c. of sugar for each cup of water. may see dozens of birds at your The answer to the question Use a sparkling clean feeder. feeders! Be sure to put out more about taking feeders down is a Boil water if you wish, but dis- feeders if you have lots of birds - bit more complicated. Contrary solve sugar in hot water. Avoid - it will give them a better chance to what your grandmother may using red dye! Use a red feeder have told you, you will NOT stop and then you don’t have to add all the hummingbirds from mi- this unnecessary ingredient. Af- grating if you don't take down ter all, nature does not color her your feeder. The Ruby-throated nectar red! Change the nectar Hummingbirds are generally every few days during hot gone by October, but in the gulf weather. Yes, throw the old nec- south, especially near Baton tar out; it costs only pennies. Rouge, we have a good chance You don’t have to fill feeders to of hosting western of the top if you only have a few hummingbirds during the winter. birds. If you see a hummingbird be- tween October and March, it's For more information about feed- likely a Rufous, a Black-chinned, ing hummingbirds, visit our web- a Buff-bellied, or one of the other site and click on the banner for rarer species that's been noted Feeding Hummingbirds from the in Louisiana over the years. front page!

- Jane Patterson

Plant-Of-The-Week by Bill Fontenot (aka the nature dude)

It's South Louisiana -Of-The-Week time! Rough-leaf Dogwood (Cornus drummondii) is a small (10-20') native , overlooked by even ardent native plant enthusiasts, not to mention the entire nursery industry. Yep, it is sort of a plain-Jane type plant, to be sure, but in that way it lends itself to fitting in with other showier as part of mixed planting.

As you can see, it's a nice enough mid-to-late-Spring bloomer, pictured here over a groundcover of "Green-eyed Susan" (Rudbeckia laciniata)...... and in late-Summer/ early-Fall it produces green-tinged-ivory fruits that numerous species of migrating and local flycatchers, vireos, and mimic thrushes relish.

Rough-leaf Dogwood is a cosmopolitan species here in North America, occupying many woodland habitat types from Canada southward to the Gulf Coast. It loves sunlight and clay soils, but will grow nicely in part-shade and other soil types.

Try Nature’s Own Hummer Feeders!

If you love hummingbirds, an even better and probably lower maintenance option to maintaining sugar water feeders is providing plants that naturally provide nectar. There are many, many choices, but some of the best ones are listed below. The ones are native to south Louisiana are marked: be sure to try these! Many of these can usually be found easily at local garden nurseries:

• Red (Abutilon pictum) • Java Plant (Clerodendrum speciossissimum) • Abutilon "Little Imp" (Abutilon megapotamicum) • Mimosa (Albizziajulibrissiri) • Parlor Maple or Flowering Maple (Abutilon pictum) • Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea "David Verity") • Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus) • Winter or Giant Mexican Cigar (Cuphea micropetala) • Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) • Pagoda Plant (Clerodendrum paniculatum) • Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) *native • Salvia “Van Houttei (Salvia splendens "Van Houttei") • Canna (sp.) • Anise Sage (Salvia guaranitica “Black and Blue”) • Cape Honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis) • Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans) • Cardinal (Lobelia cardinalis) *native K • Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii) • Copper Iris (Iris fulva) *native • Salvia "Indigo Spires" (S. farinacea x S. longispicata) • Coral Bean or Mamou (Erythrina herbacea) *native • Salvia "Argentine Skies" (var. S. guaranitica) • Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) *native • Salvia "Purple Majesty" (var. S. guaranitica) • Cross Vine (Bignonia carpreolata) *native • Salvia "Waverly" (var. S. leucantha') • Cry-Baby Tree (Erythrina crista-galli) • Salvia coccinea *native • Cypress Vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) • Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans) *native • Firebush (Hamelia patens) • Turk's Cap or Sultan's Turban { arboreus • Fire Spike (Odontonema strictum) "Drummondii") • • Firecracker Vine (Manettia cordifolid) Vervain or Porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) • • Fountain Plant (Russelia equisetiformis) Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragantissima) • • Ginger (Hedychium sp.) Japanese Flowering Winter “ugly” Shrimp (Justicia brandegeana) • • Cherry (Prunus serrulata "Kwansan") Zinnias 2 Baton Rouge Audubon Society an apt app BRAS PROGRAMS Finding Your Birding Nemesis RETURN!

by Jane Patterson After a summer break, BRAS pro- grams will begin again this Sep- Got a target bird? tember. We will continue to host presentations on the second Is there a bird you've been looking for but cannot find? Would Thursday of the month at BREC’s you like to see a Roseate Spoonbill without having to drive for Bluebonnet Swamp Education miles and miles? Would you like to know if any rare birds Center. Attendance is free for all BRAS Members, $3 at the door have been found near you? You can do all of this with the for non-BRAS Members and BirdsEye app for your smartphone. $2.50 for non-BRAS seniors (price of admission at the Blue- According to the www.birdseyebirding.com website, bonnet Swamp Nature Center). BirdsEye is: Our first speaker will be Dia Wind- hoffer, a recent graduate from THE BIRD FINDING GUIDE Nicolls State University. Ms. Windhoffer earned her Master of BirdsEye is the indispensable app that gives you the inside Science degree studying predator scoop about which birds are being seen and where, in real removal and video monitoring as management tools for waterbird time. conservation. Specifically, she de- ployed video systems on Royal BirdsEye is a simple but powerful tool for birders. It is simple, and Sandwich tern colonies on easy and fast to use so you can spend your time seeing birds! Louisiana's barrier islands to de- termine specific causes of nest • See birds reported near you with local abundance information failure, and also to determine the • Find the birds you need! See which birds that have been seen re- effectiveness of mammalian re- cently, but which are not on your list! moval efforts to increase nest suc- • Browse detailed maps of bird sightings, nearby or worldwide cess. • view photos, text, and sounds • track your year or life list manually, or download it automatically Spoiler alert – Dia’s video footage from eBird for the world, country, state, or even by county is the first ever to confirm depre- • Plan your next birding trip – find Hotspots near you or where dation of Royal and Sandwich you’re headed tern nests by an herbivorous • Connect to Wikipedia, Flickr, and Xeno-Canto from within Bird- mammal! But you have to join us sEye for more information and photos to find out which mammal. • Locate unusual birds in the Rare & Notable sightings section So mark your calendars for: BirdsEye keys off of data from eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithol- ogy online database. So as birders worldwide enter their data, Thursday, September 14th you can find out what's being seen and reported literally any- 7:00 – 8:00 PM where in the world. If you have target birds when you travel, “Evaluation of Mammalian Predator you can use the app to see where and when that particular Removal and Video Monitoring as bird was last found in the area. If you are working a county or Management Tools for Waterbird parish list, this app can help you find those species you need Conservation” with Dia Windhoffer to tick off. If you literally want to know where the last Roseate Spoonbill was seen and reported nearest to where you are See you there! now standing, BirdsEye can do that for you! A great tool for every birder! 3 Baton Rouge Audubon Society Our Native

by the nature dude (Bill Fontenot) fairly well exploded in the recent 1.5 years of heavy rains. riting about Hibiscus is a W daunting task. There's just too You don't need a ditch in which to much to say and these days nobody grow native Gulf Coast hibiscus, but cares to read thousands of words at it does help. Otherwise, site them in a time...... but I'm gonna try, ok? any moist situation that receives a good bit of sun. The genus Hibiscus contains about 300 species worldwide, plus of Over time you may notice bug dam- course many many hybrids. I do dig age on some of your hibiscus. I the hybrids -- in a Daliesque sort of learned recently that this is the re- way -- but the straight wild species sult of leaf predation by a species of watched adult Prothonotary War- remain the most spectacular to me. sawfly (if anyone out there knows blers repeatedly plucking sawfly(?) Here in Louisiana we've got six na- otherwise, please let me know....). larvae off of hibiscus leaves and tive species, with the two most While not strictly limited to H. lasio- carrying them to nearby nestlings. widely-distributed being the Hal- carpos, I've only rarely seen such This being the case, I'd expect that berdleaf Rosemallow (H. laevis) and damage on H. laevis. Sawfly(?) more birds than Prothonotary War- the regular Rosemallow (H. lasiocar- damage on H. lasiocarpus has blers would greatly appreciate hav- pus). Until recently, H. laevis was caused more than one native plant ing such a handy food source known as H. militaris and H. lasio- gardener to refrain from planting it. around for their babies. And what carpus was known as H. moscheu- Sorta sad. about anole lizards? skinks? tree tos var. lasiocarpus. frogs? spiders? assassin bugs? etc? Interesting story: Back when Lydia etc? etc? Specimens featuring pink-tinged and I were operating a native plant blooms are fairly common in both of nursery, I mentioned the "cosmetic" If you really REALLY want a wildlife- these species. Years ago (20+) problems we were having selling H. friendly garden, then CELEBRATE Lydia and I planted one H. lasiocar- lasiocarpus to Wylie Barrow, bird holes in the leaves of "your" plants! pus and one pink-tinged H. laevis in ecologist at the National Wetlands our front ditch. Over time, these two Research Center. Upon hearing (follow the nature dude on Facebook have gradually spread out along the this, he mentioned that in the for more enlightening articles) entire 50+ feet of ditch; and have Atchafalaya Basin he had recently

tunity to observe hummingbirds up close as they are Feliciana Hummingbird weighed and measured. In addition, vendors will be at both homes with hummingbird-attractive plants avail- able for sale. The gardens include the home of Carlyle Celebration Rogillio at 15736 Tunica Trace (Hwy. 66) and Murrell Butler at 9485 Oak Hill Road. September 9, 2017 There is no fee. Come and go as you please. The annual Feliciana Hummingbird Celebration will be held on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, at St. Francisville, Maps can be found at the Historical Society Museum on Louisiana. The Feliciana Hummingbird Celebration pro- Ferdinand St.or at the St. Francisville Inn at Commerce motes the unique breeding habitat found in the St. & Ferdinand Streets, both in the historic district You can Francisville area. The event offers an opportunity to ob- also print a map from this website: http:// serve hummingbirds up close as they are banded at stfrancisvillefestivals.com/features/feliciana- two private homes in the St. Francisville area on Satur- hummingbird-celebration/fhc-map day. Hummingbird-friendly plants will also be available for sale. Ph: 800-488-6502 The festival will be held from 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Ph: 225-635-6502 Hummingbird biologists Linda Beall and Nancy New- Fax: 225-635-6421 field will capture and band birds at two private gardens [email protected] 4 in the St. Francisville area. Visitors will have the oppor- K Baton Rouge Audubon Society \y Cryst[l Johnson Bir^_r Wor^ Fin^

5 Baton Rouge Audubon Society Plants for Birds - Louisiana style!

ational Audubon currently has have to know what you're looking Clegg's does a great amount of Na nationwide initiative to encour- for, but you can often find things business in Baton Rouge and is a age all of us to grow more native here that you can't find anywhere fine full service nursery. They don't, plants that are good for birds. The else. Payment is by the honor sys- however, feature any native plants, logic is that we have removed many tem... leave your check in the mail- per se. That is, you can occasionally of the native plants in our environ- box slot by the parking lot. find them there, but they will be acci- ment, which is stressing food sup- dental finds and likely not labeled as plies for insects and other organ- Twice a year, Hilltop holds pretty natives. That said, Rick Webb, a isms, including our native birds. By awesome plant sales...one in the wholesale grower who specializes in using native plants in our landscape spring and one in the fall. People native plants, does sell to Clegg's, design we can add back what was arrive a day ahead to see what's go- so you may occasionally find Louisi- taken away and increase biodiver- ing to be offering and are jostling ana natives here... but you certainly sity, making our homes a healthier each other at the starting line the have to know what you're looking place for all of us. It's Audubon's day of the sale. Bring your wagon for. In my personal experience, it's goal to have it memberships plant a and have a good idea of what you're not likely that the salespeople will million native plants for birds! going for if it's going to be some- have any idea about what is native thing in high demand! It's worth it to and what's not. If you visit www.audubon.org/ become a member of Hilltop to get plantsforbirds and enter your zip notice of the sales and the programs For the following nurseries, finding code, Audubon will provide a list of that Hilltop Arboretum has to offer. natives will be accidental. Finding plants that are favorable to birds someone at the nursery who knows and that are native to your area. Un- native plants is possible but you fortunately, these plants are not al- Harb's Oasis may have to ask around. ways easy to find in nurseries in our www.harbsoasis.com area. Below you will find a list of 13827 Coursey Blvd. nurseries in south Louisiana, as well Baton Rouge, LA 70817 Louisiana Nursery as some mail order resources, that (225) 756-2720 www.louisiananursery.com will help you find options for pur- Email: [email protected] chasing native plants that you can 13121 Coursey Blvd. add to your yard and homescapes. In addition to the traditional land- Baton Rouge, LA 70816 US (Please note that I'm not including scaping options, Harb's Oasis actu- Phone: 225-756-0008 any "big box" stores or hardware ally features a Native Plants section, stores that carry season plants. and is the only retail nursery in our 8680 Perkins Road They may accidentally carry natives, area to do so. In addition, there are Baton Rouge, LA 70810 US but they are not a reliable source.) people here who actually know Phone: 225-766-0300 about plants and are able to answer Retail nurseries that questions. Definitely worth a visit to 39245 Hwy 42 carry native plants see what they have to offer. Prairieville, LA 70769 US Phone: 225-677-7984 Hilltop Arboretum Email: www.lsu.edu/hilltop Clegg's Nursery [email protected] 11855 Highland Road www.cleggsnursery.com Baton Rouge, LA 70810 Pretty much a repeat of what I said Phone: 225-767-6916 In Baton Rouge about Clegg's. Nice nursery, but Email: [email protected] 274 North Donmoor finding natives will be accidental. (225) 927-1419 Hilltop Arboretum has what it calls the "Hodge Podge" which is a volun- 5696 Siegen Lane Garden District Nursery teer nursery area on the premises. (225) 292-9153 www.facebook.com/ Usually unmanned, this nursery fea- gardendistrictnursery.com tures plants that are tagged with 10645 Greenwell Springs Road 2544 Government St names and prices, so it's up to you (225) 275-7006 Baton Rouge, Louisiana to know what you're looking for. 225-383-3514 These are plants that have been In Denham Springs propagated or shared by volunteers. 31275 Hwy 16 6 Not all of them are native, so you do (225) 791-6060 (Continued on page 7) Baton Rouge Audubon Society Plants for Birds - Louisiana style!

(Continued from page 6) Email form on website Maypop Hill Bois D'Arc Gardens (specializing Greenhand Nursery www.maypophill.com in Louisiana Iris) www.facebook.com/ Email: [email protected] www.bois-darc.com GreenhandNursery 1831 Bull Run Road 11810 Gibbens Rd Sells plants at Clinton Louisiana Schriever, LA 70395 Baton Rouge, LA Community Market (first Saturday of 985-446-2329 or 985-209-2501 or 225-354-9525 each month, as well as LSU Spring 985- 859-4848 Greenhand Nursery Garden Sale and New Orleans Bo- Email: [email protected] tanical Garden events.

Ins-N-Outs Nursery Louisiana Iris Gardens www.facebook.com/diginsnouts Louisiana Growers www.louisianairisgardens.com 5211 Legion St (Rick and Susan Webb) Tully, NY St. Francisville, LA 70775 www.lanativeplants.com Contact form on website (225) 635-6952 63279 Lowery Rd Amite, Louisiana (985) 747-0510 Seasonal Plant Sales Green Thumb Nursery Email: [email protected] and Garden Shows www.greenthumbnsy.com/ 12188 Hwy 22 Sells plants at many of seasonal March through October Ponchatoula, LA 70454 plant and garden shows listed be- 225-294-5089 low. Pelican Greenhouse @ City Park New Orleans Plant sale first Saturday of each Smith's Nursery Willis Farm Nursery month. Features many native plants. www.smithsnursery.net G W Willis, md Email [email protected] for a list of 19355 Hwy 22 East www.willisfarm.net native plants available each month. Ponchatoula, LA 70454 Mail: P O Box 719, Doyline, LA, (985) 386-8862 71023-0719 March Shipping: 3100 Herren Rd, Doyline, LA, 71023 Madisonville Garden Show Bantings Nursery Land: 318-745-3048 Sponsored by the Madisonville Gar- 26300 Highway 190 Cell: 318-210-4507 (G W Willis) den Club. Usually first weekend in Lacombe, LA 70445 Fax: 318-745-3246 March. Check with the club for 985.882.5550 Email: [email protected] dates:www.facebook.com/ Email: Madisonvillegardenclub [email protected] Holds a retail market Saturday 9-3, January - April & October - Novem- Northshore Garden & Plant Sale ber at wholesale prices Sponsored by St. Tammany Master Inwood Gardens Gardener Association & LSU Ag www.inwoodgardens.com Center. Usually third weekend of Mail Order Sources 1640 Collins Blvd. March in Covington

Covington LA 70433 Almost Eden Crosby Arboretum Spring www.almostedenplants.com Native Plant Sale 1240 Smith Rd Garden Spot of Mandeville Usually last weekend in March. Merryville LA 70653 2100 N Causeway Blvd, Check website calendar for dates: 337-375-2114 Mandeville, LA 70471 crosbyarboretum.msstate.edu Email: [email protected]

Baton Rouge Spring Wholesale Nurseries Nativ Nurseries Garden Show www.nativnurseries.com Sponsored by LSU Ag Center. Usu- You can't buy direct from these 1003 US-45 ALT ally middle of March at Parker Coli- companies but you should watch for West Point, MS 39773 seum on the LSU Baton7 Rouge their wares at Plant and Garden (662) 494-4326 Sales around the state. Baton Rouge Audubon Society (Continued on page 8) Plants for Birds — Louisiana style! Baton Rouge Audubon Officers (Continued from page 7) October campus. President Jane Patterson K New Orleans Fall Garden Show [email protected] April This event is sponsored by the New Vice-President Orleans Botanical Garden, New Or- Debbie Taylor Festival des Fleurs leans City Park, the New Orleans [email protected]

Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, LA. Botanical Garden Foundation, and Treasurer Usually first weekend of April. Friends of City Park. Kimberly Lanka [email protected]

New Orleans Spring See more at: http:// Secretary Donna LaFleur Garden Show neworleanscitypark.com/events/fall- [email protected] New Orleans Botanical Gardens garden-festival. Usually first week- usually second weekend of April end of October. Committee Chairs

June Conservation Links to other websites Richard Condrey [email protected] Daylily Festival & Garden Show and resources Education Magdalen Square, Abbeville, LA. Jane Patterson Usually first weekend of June PlantNative.org [email protected] www.plantnative.org Fieldtrips Daniel Mooney September [email protected] Louisiana Native Plant Society Membership Pollination Celebration www.lnps.org Heather Mancuso 985/768-9285 [email protected] Hammond Research Station spon- Newsletter sored by Tangipahoa Master Gar- Capital Area Native Plant Steve Mumford deners. Second weekend of Sep- Society [email protected] tember canps.weebly.com Programs Katie Percy [email protected] Folsom Fall Garden Festival Society for Louisiana Iris Sanctuaries Midway Church Park, Folsom, LA. www.louisianas.org Dave Patton End of September. [email protected] Webmaster Daniel Patterson [email protected]

Do we have your At Large Members…

Erik Johnson email address? [email protected]

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letter in electronic form ONLY (rather than the printed version Baton Rouge thereby lessening your carbon footprint) please email our Mem- Audubon Society bership chair and let her know! Drop her a line at member- P.O. Box 67016 [email protected] Baton Rouge, LA 70896

Also please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BRAudubon 8 Baton Rouge Audubon Society \y Cryst[l Johnson

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