Just because it is winter doesn't mean nothing is happening in the yard. This fall I saw Dirt! The Movie for the first time. The movie deserves its own post and maybe I will write a review at some point. But for now, the topic is something specific that the film motivated me to do. That something is construction of a compost pile. I had always planned to do so, but the Dirt! moved it up my priority list a bit. We try to eat lost of fresh vegetables here and I recognized the true waste of throwing scraps away.
Vegetables and other plant material and paper that gets thrown in American trash every day is valuable for phytonutrients and if properly 'processed' by composting can be an excellent, natural fertilizer. Throwing away these materials is literally throwing away money when the cost of carting the trash, the loss of potential productivity to household plants, and the substitution of compost for synthetic fertilizer are all considered.
This is the time of year when most people in the Northeast are raking leaves. In suburban areas the leaves get packaged, picked up by garbage trucks, and dumped somewhere. What a waste! Think of all the plant nutrition and potential energy being thrown away. American lawn and leaf habits warrant yet another post, but I will save that also for another time. For now, I have been letting my leaves around in situ and I am gradually collecting them to fill my composter.
That brings me back to my original purpose. Sustainability is about satisfying all needs in a way that never eliminates a resource. I didn't want to eliminate the 'resource' of an aesthetically pleasing yard, nor did I want to eliminate the 'resource' of my wife's patience. For that reason I chose to buy a self-contained plastic bin that will keep the composting process out of sight of guests. In addition I purchased a stainless steel container with a carbon filter to keep inside with which to collect our kitchen scraps as they are created. The container is durable and washable, so we will have it for a long time. We can fill the container in about a week.
Meanwhile, I have been collecting yard wastes, leaves, and houseplant trimmings from my place of business. Experts advise a high ration of Carbon to Nitrogen (brown wastes to green wastes) on the order of 20:1 or 30:1. The dried leaves have provided all of the brown waste I need. Decomposition will be slow in the cold Northeast winter, but I think by spring I will have the beginnings of some beneficial plant fertilizer.
More on the process of compost and troubleshooting will come as the experience comes to fruition in the spring.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Suburban Sparrows
Yesterday my yard held no less than seven different Emberizid sparrow species. (These are North American sparrows including juncos and towhees but excluding House "Sparrows" which are a different family, Passeridae.) Birders will understand the value of this total, but let me make a few comparisons to put things in perspective for the non-birders. When I was a kid I kept a bird list for my parents' yard. In 15+ years of living there and watching birds I recorded just nine sparrow species. After I got married I moved to another location for about four years. This location had definitively better habitat, but even here I recorded only eight species during my entire time living there. At my current location I have recorded nine species in just three and a half months, including the seven yesterday alone.
Why?
Then answer is simple. There is a wet area measuring about 20' by 20' in which I have allowed the grass and wildflowers that others would call "weeds" to grow to about knee height. Nearly every sparrow I have recorded in the yard has used this section for foraging or cover. My previous location had no such area and my parents' house had only a temporary habitat of this type when the garden had reached its wildest in early fall. I have had three separate Lincoln's Sparrows in the section of the yard this fall. Bird-saavy readers will know this is an uncommon species at best and many birders don't see three of them in an entire season.
It's the Field of Dreams mentality that says "If you build it, they will come." In this case the adage is true. Creating the correct habitat will draw the species that use it. Without a doubt these birds would not appear in my yard, or at least not remain in my yard long enough to be readily observed, if not for the grassy patch. Consider that most yards in America could have a grassy patch, or a brushy patch, or a group of trees added to it in its least-used corner. Image the value these patches could have for wildlife, particularly migrant wildlife who require stop-over habitat for cover and food. Most lawns go unused 80% of the time, only occasionally playing host to a barbecue or party or a dog or game of catch. If all of those homeowners who under-use and over-care for their lawns sacrificed a small corner and allowed it to grow wild or replaced it with native shrubs or wildflowers it could be a great asset for wildlife.
My backyard habitat will get a major upgrade next year when I will have access to my first complete growing season on the property. My focus will revolved around adding understory plants in one region and replacing exotics with natives in other areas. Without question, however, the grassy area will remain and even expand as I remove Japanese Knotweed and allow the grass to replace it. The sparrows of this fall have convinced me this patch is too valuable to replace.
Why?
Then answer is simple. There is a wet area measuring about 20' by 20' in which I have allowed the grass and wildflowers that others would call "weeds" to grow to about knee height. Nearly every sparrow I have recorded in the yard has used this section for foraging or cover. My previous location had no such area and my parents' house had only a temporary habitat of this type when the garden had reached its wildest in early fall. I have had three separate Lincoln's Sparrows in the section of the yard this fall. Bird-saavy readers will know this is an uncommon species at best and many birders don't see three of them in an entire season.
It's the Field of Dreams mentality that says "If you build it, they will come." In this case the adage is true. Creating the correct habitat will draw the species that use it. Without a doubt these birds would not appear in my yard, or at least not remain in my yard long enough to be readily observed, if not for the grassy patch. Consider that most yards in America could have a grassy patch, or a brushy patch, or a group of trees added to it in its least-used corner. Image the value these patches could have for wildlife, particularly migrant wildlife who require stop-over habitat for cover and food. Most lawns go unused 80% of the time, only occasionally playing host to a barbecue or party or a dog or game of catch. If all of those homeowners who under-use and over-care for their lawns sacrificed a small corner and allowed it to grow wild or replaced it with native shrubs or wildflowers it could be a great asset for wildlife.
My backyard habitat will get a major upgrade next year when I will have access to my first complete growing season on the property. My focus will revolved around adding understory plants in one region and replacing exotics with natives in other areas. Without question, however, the grassy area will remain and even expand as I remove Japanese Knotweed and allow the grass to replace it. The sparrows of this fall have convinced me this patch is too valuable to replace.
Monday, August 25, 2014
The Trajectory for Our Media
Our metrics suggest that we Domicile Ecophile doesn't have any regular readers yet. This is no surprise since the blog and Twitter accounts have few post and the YouTube channel has no videos! This post in for the benefit of anyone who stumbles across what does exist here on this blog before the "public" launch when we start advertising in some form. I want to have some content built up before we do so.
Behind the scenes I am working on having a professional logo created. I am filming scenes for what will be an assortment of video making up the first round go content for the YouTube channel. I am working on a number of post for the blog that have yet to be published. I may also be getting some collaborators to generate some content as well. New additions will be spotty and sparse for a little while, but eventually things will get rolling.
That means if you are looking around and don't see much yet, just keep checking back. In a few months I hope the volume of content on our various outlets will multiply.
Behind the scenes I am working on having a professional logo created. I am filming scenes for what will be an assortment of video making up the first round go content for the YouTube channel. I am working on a number of post for the blog that have yet to be published. I may also be getting some collaborators to generate some content as well. New additions will be spotty and sparse for a little while, but eventually things will get rolling.
That means if you are looking around and don't see much yet, just keep checking back. In a few months I hope the volume of content on our various outlets will multiply.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
The Meaning of the Name
I felt it worth discussing my choice of name for this blog (and indeed this "brand") since the first word in the name is seldom used and the second is of my own construction. Domicile wasn't even a word in my vocabulary until a friend of mine used it to describe the possible location of his girlfriend's assignment with a new job just days before my creation of this blog.
I have a strong science background and as such an appreciation for Latinized nomenclature. I even took a few semesters of Latin back in college. I liked the idea of having a Latin root word in the name. The Oxford Dictionary defines "domicile" as "the country that a person treats as their permanent home, or lives in and has a substantial connection with." There is a deep meaning in the word as it means more than just "home" but a home with which a person has a "substantial connection." This is important because I believe that when people have connections to the land and the plants and animals they will care more about the quality of their existence. As a bonus, the word domicile derives from the Latin "domus" which means "home." It is also the root from which "dominus" or "lord or master" is derived; appropriate because I believe mankind has been charged with the task of managing the natural world like the lord of a manor and this task appointed in turn by our own Master.
The second half of the name is the constructed part. The "eco" prefix connotes ecology; the science of relationships between living things, particularly outdoors in the "wild." Ecology was and is my favorite part of biology and environmental science and "eco" a recognizable monicker for all things "natural" in pop culture. The word ecology, originally spelled oecology, derives from the Greek word "oikos" which interestingly enough means "home"like the Latin "domus." (Incidentally, this does beg a question about the choice of branding of the popular Greek-style yogurt.)
The suffix "phile" is also of Greek derivation, coming from the verb "phileo." This means fraternal love as in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, or in modern usage as an Anglo suffix meaning "affinity for." Together in my mind, the word "ecophile" means appreciation and inclination towards the natural relationships between organisms (as opposed to the artificial relationships or lack thereof that derive from the exotics wantonly thrown together in typical American suburbs). Branding is important and was a consideration for me in determining the name I would use. I wanted something catchy and in this case the internal rhyme of the name sufficiently accomplished this.
Domicle Ecophile means someone who seeks to promote the relationships between indigenous organisms of his or her homeland in such as way as to promote those relationships and maintain their health. It means someone who will make a commitment to make native, sustainable choices in landscaping and property maintenance. It means someone who understands that since humans dominate the landscape, we must make a concerted effort to backfill our human habitations with the plants and other resources native wildlife needs to coexist with us. The Domicile Ecophile is my way of trying to encourage and assist others to these very things.
I have a strong science background and as such an appreciation for Latinized nomenclature. I even took a few semesters of Latin back in college. I liked the idea of having a Latin root word in the name. The Oxford Dictionary defines "domicile" as "the country that a person treats as their permanent home, or lives in and has a substantial connection with." There is a deep meaning in the word as it means more than just "home" but a home with which a person has a "substantial connection." This is important because I believe that when people have connections to the land and the plants and animals they will care more about the quality of their existence. As a bonus, the word domicile derives from the Latin "domus" which means "home." It is also the root from which "dominus" or "lord or master" is derived; appropriate because I believe mankind has been charged with the task of managing the natural world like the lord of a manor and this task appointed in turn by our own Master.
The second half of the name is the constructed part. The "eco" prefix connotes ecology; the science of relationships between living things, particularly outdoors in the "wild." Ecology was and is my favorite part of biology and environmental science and "eco" a recognizable monicker for all things "natural" in pop culture. The word ecology, originally spelled oecology, derives from the Greek word "oikos" which interestingly enough means "home"like the Latin "domus." (Incidentally, this does beg a question about the choice of branding of the popular Greek-style yogurt.)
The suffix "phile" is also of Greek derivation, coming from the verb "phileo." This means fraternal love as in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, or in modern usage as an Anglo suffix meaning "affinity for." Together in my mind, the word "ecophile" means appreciation and inclination towards the natural relationships between organisms (as opposed to the artificial relationships or lack thereof that derive from the exotics wantonly thrown together in typical American suburbs). Branding is important and was a consideration for me in determining the name I would use. I wanted something catchy and in this case the internal rhyme of the name sufficiently accomplished this.
Domicle Ecophile means someone who seeks to promote the relationships between indigenous organisms of his or her homeland in such as way as to promote those relationships and maintain their health. It means someone who will make a commitment to make native, sustainable choices in landscaping and property maintenance. It means someone who understands that since humans dominate the landscape, we must make a concerted effort to backfill our human habitations with the plants and other resources native wildlife needs to coexist with us. The Domicile Ecophile is my way of trying to encourage and assist others to these very things.
Losses and New Additions
This week has seen some gains and losses. In the losses department was the loss of three, yes three, huge native hardwoods from a yard several houses down. This included a White Oak, an Eastern Poplars, and an ash species. All were forty to fifty feet tall with a sight estimated DBH of 20-25 inches. DBH, or diameter at breast height, is a standard way to measure trees and arborists or dendrologists will recognize these were large trees. A drive-by suggested the ash had a rotted center, but the other two seemed perfectly healthy. I can't possibly guess why these trees were cut and they may have been perfectly legitimate reasons, but all I know for sure is that my southern skyline is now barren and this was a major blow to hyperlocal wildlife.
The removal took two days. Before work started on the second day the only Hairy Woodpecker I have seen here worked through the yard quickly and then perched high on the denuded trunk of the poplar before flying off. These were the trees in which the Pileated Woodpecker showed up a week or so ago. And even while the workers were in the tree and cutting pieces, a Red-bellied woodpecker landed hear one of them, looked back and for as if confused, and moved on. Now these trees are gone. What took probably third or forty years to grow was gone in two days.
Meanwhile on my side of the property lines I have been working hard to modify the habitat for the better. I have begun the arduous task of removing two large stands of Japanese Knotweed. This aggressive invasive plant grows incredibly quickly, deprives nearby plants of water, and it very difficult to remove because of a tough root system and weak stems. If you pull them the stems beak leaving the root to regrow. They also have a high capacity for vegetative reproduction, or spontaneous grown from cut pieces.
The smaller stand is in sub-prime habitat and the plants are a little smaller. I took to these stand will all manner of wrath and recklessness and I obliterated the plants with shoved, hand, and machete. The pieces were left to desiccate in the sun--a surefire way to kill just about any herbaceous plant. Of course some of the roots regrew but unlike a remediation site in a natural area, I live here. Every day I can come out and pull, cut and destroy until they have ceased to exist. I am making progress and this stand will soon be gone.
The second stand is more difficult. It is larger, in better habitat, and intertwined with poison ivy and multiflora rose. Removing the plants without rash or cuts is challenging. I have opted for chopping most of the plants down a few inches above the ground. This doesn't kill them at all, but it does allow me to see and avoid the poison ivy below and in general remove a lot of exotic biomass. The knotweed does not regrow as well after cutting as its initial growth in the spring, allowing me more time to deal with it and giving some struggling plants below a competitive advantage (which in my case include two native raspberry species and others).
In the additions category, I have purchased a 'Duke' cultivar of Highbush Blueberry and a wild type specimen as well. Blueberries were domesticated and bred here in New Jersey, so they are especially appropriate to have on the property. Neither of these is installed yet. I have also added a number of animals to the yard list, including False Potato Beetle, Green Bottle Fly, Great Blue Heron (a flyover), and Great Crested Flycatcher (heard off property and likely having bred nearby).
The removal took two days. Before work started on the second day the only Hairy Woodpecker I have seen here worked through the yard quickly and then perched high on the denuded trunk of the poplar before flying off. These were the trees in which the Pileated Woodpecker showed up a week or so ago. And even while the workers were in the tree and cutting pieces, a Red-bellied woodpecker landed hear one of them, looked back and for as if confused, and moved on. Now these trees are gone. What took probably third or forty years to grow was gone in two days.
Meanwhile on my side of the property lines I have been working hard to modify the habitat for the better. I have begun the arduous task of removing two large stands of Japanese Knotweed. This aggressive invasive plant grows incredibly quickly, deprives nearby plants of water, and it very difficult to remove because of a tough root system and weak stems. If you pull them the stems beak leaving the root to regrow. They also have a high capacity for vegetative reproduction, or spontaneous grown from cut pieces.
The smaller stand is in sub-prime habitat and the plants are a little smaller. I took to these stand will all manner of wrath and recklessness and I obliterated the plants with shoved, hand, and machete. The pieces were left to desiccate in the sun--a surefire way to kill just about any herbaceous plant. Of course some of the roots regrew but unlike a remediation site in a natural area, I live here. Every day I can come out and pull, cut and destroy until they have ceased to exist. I am making progress and this stand will soon be gone.
The second stand is more difficult. It is larger, in better habitat, and intertwined with poison ivy and multiflora rose. Removing the plants without rash or cuts is challenging. I have opted for chopping most of the plants down a few inches above the ground. This doesn't kill them at all, but it does allow me to see and avoid the poison ivy below and in general remove a lot of exotic biomass. The knotweed does not regrow as well after cutting as its initial growth in the spring, allowing me more time to deal with it and giving some struggling plants below a competitive advantage (which in my case include two native raspberry species and others).
In the additions category, I have purchased a 'Duke' cultivar of Highbush Blueberry and a wild type specimen as well. Blueberries were domesticated and bred here in New Jersey, so they are especially appropriate to have on the property. Neither of these is installed yet. I have also added a number of animals to the yard list, including False Potato Beetle, Green Bottle Fly, Great Blue Heron (a flyover), and Great Crested Flycatcher (heard off property and likely having bred nearby).
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Biblical Conservation
While I hope to appeal to every person, I have a special goal of reaching Christians with my message of backyard conservation. Domicile Ecophile is certainly not an attempt to convert non-Christians nor is it an attempt in any way to convince non-Christians of Christian morals or doctrine. I do not seek to be divisive in any way. I do however, hope that Domicile Ecophile can help Christians see the connection between ecology and God's will and I hope that non-Christians will accept the occasional Christian-centered post with the understanding that I am trying to win more people to the causes of ecology.
Christians in American have traditionally been more interested in other voting issues and often side with conservative politicians who are not champions of the environment. I don't think that Christians are against environmentalism, but I believe we prioritize other issues and vote according to them. While I do not think that environmental issues should trump "human" issues, I don't believe that we have the right to ignore them either. I hope Domicile Ecophile will help Christians see the importance environmentalism has in our Christian worldview. In a sense, this is an ecologist's outreach to Christians!
So let's get down to business: What is the connection between the environment and scripture? The most basic answer is the first verse of the Old Testament, Genesis 1:1. The verse reads, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The most basic argument is that the Earth belongs to God. We are tenants on the earth and just like any landlord, our land-Lord expects that we will take reasonable care of our accommodations because these accommodations do not belong to us, they belong to Him. This is why I for one get so deeply irked when I see native ecosystems being destroyed and abused. Intact ecosystems are intricate, self-balancing systems that God has created to help sustain life on Earth and we contribute to the destruction of those systems with our taste for exotic plants and unsustainable consumer habits.
The rest of Genesis 1 tells an amazing story. It doesn't matter if you accept evolution or not. It doesn't matter if you are a young-earth or old-earth advocate. It doesn't matter if the verses are literal or symbolic. No matter what your stance, the fact of the matter is that the chapter lays out the care and detail God put into building a system, not just a static dwelling, but a self-balancing system with millions of individual components that interact and work together to sustain life. When you consider the intricate detail put into Creation the idea of degrading it becomes increasingly tragic.
Verse 1:26 is particularly telling and, in my opinion, amazing. It reads, "Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground" (NIV). Notice, the verse says that we are made in God's image so that we may rule the earth! It doesn't say we are made in His image so that we may have His character or even know Him. It says we are made in his likeness so that we may rule the earth in the same manner He rules everything. It's conviction time Christian homeowner: Do you know and care for your backyard dominion the way God knows and cares for His Creation, which includes you and all the people in it? "Not quite," you say? Well this is the very purpose for which you were made in His image.
Before the disciples, before the nation of Israel, and even before salvation or sin itself, there was God's desire that we manage, care for, and take care of the earth. But are these principles still in effect in the New Testament? I refer you to some difficult verses in Romans 8 for the answer. Paul here writes about the condition of creation as a result of the curse of sin. Christians are well acquainted with what the Bible says about the condition of people as a result of sin, but not so much when it comes to the condition of the earth itself. Verses 20 and 21 say that "Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay." Here we see that creation itself will share in the redemption of salvation just like God's children.
I will be the first to admit these are difficult verses and Paul is well known for making statements that are challenging to grasp. Despite this, the fact that the earth will share in salvation in some way should be a strong indication that creation, including the earth on which we live, is very important to God. The full meaning of these verses is too complex to explore here right now, but I hope readers will appreciate the significance of creation to God, even in the paradigms of the New Testament.
For my Catholic friends out there I would also like to add some commentary from our current pontiff, Pope Francis. In May he gave a speech about our treatment of the earth. Among other things the pope said, "But when we exploit Creation we destroy the sign of God’s love for us, in destroying Creation we are saying to God: ‘I don’t like it! This is not good!’ ‘So what do you like?’ ‘I like myself!’ – Here, this is sin! Do you see?" I concur. You may read more about this speech by following this link.
To conclude, the Bible is clear: The earth is part of God's intricate creation and He cares for it very much. He purposed us with its care and proper management and He made us in His image so that we might accomplish that purpose. It's time we started to see the care of the earth as a moral mandate from God and the abuse of the earth as a sin. We need to start thinking about the sustainability of our consumer habits, the way we use land and ecosystems, and the way we manage our home properties which are our own local fiefdoms over which God has given us authority. The first step is to learn more about how we impact the earth with our individual actions and how we can make individual changes that can contribute to healthy ecosystems. My mission is to enable anyone willing to make those changes by providing how-to's, information, and examples centered around landscaping and backyard ecology. It's just a small part of a much bigger picture but I hope to make a difference by doing this one thing well. This is Domicile Ecophile.
Christians in American have traditionally been more interested in other voting issues and often side with conservative politicians who are not champions of the environment. I don't think that Christians are against environmentalism, but I believe we prioritize other issues and vote according to them. While I do not think that environmental issues should trump "human" issues, I don't believe that we have the right to ignore them either. I hope Domicile Ecophile will help Christians see the importance environmentalism has in our Christian worldview. In a sense, this is an ecologist's outreach to Christians!
So let's get down to business: What is the connection between the environment and scripture? The most basic answer is the first verse of the Old Testament, Genesis 1:1. The verse reads, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The most basic argument is that the Earth belongs to God. We are tenants on the earth and just like any landlord, our land-Lord expects that we will take reasonable care of our accommodations because these accommodations do not belong to us, they belong to Him. This is why I for one get so deeply irked when I see native ecosystems being destroyed and abused. Intact ecosystems are intricate, self-balancing systems that God has created to help sustain life on Earth and we contribute to the destruction of those systems with our taste for exotic plants and unsustainable consumer habits.
The rest of Genesis 1 tells an amazing story. It doesn't matter if you accept evolution or not. It doesn't matter if you are a young-earth or old-earth advocate. It doesn't matter if the verses are literal or symbolic. No matter what your stance, the fact of the matter is that the chapter lays out the care and detail God put into building a system, not just a static dwelling, but a self-balancing system with millions of individual components that interact and work together to sustain life. When you consider the intricate detail put into Creation the idea of degrading it becomes increasingly tragic.
Verse 1:26 is particularly telling and, in my opinion, amazing. It reads, "Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground" (NIV). Notice, the verse says that we are made in God's image so that we may rule the earth! It doesn't say we are made in His image so that we may have His character or even know Him. It says we are made in his likeness so that we may rule the earth in the same manner He rules everything. It's conviction time Christian homeowner: Do you know and care for your backyard dominion the way God knows and cares for His Creation, which includes you and all the people in it? "Not quite," you say? Well this is the very purpose for which you were made in His image.
Before the disciples, before the nation of Israel, and even before salvation or sin itself, there was God's desire that we manage, care for, and take care of the earth. But are these principles still in effect in the New Testament? I refer you to some difficult verses in Romans 8 for the answer. Paul here writes about the condition of creation as a result of the curse of sin. Christians are well acquainted with what the Bible says about the condition of people as a result of sin, but not so much when it comes to the condition of the earth itself. Verses 20 and 21 say that "Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay." Here we see that creation itself will share in the redemption of salvation just like God's children.
I will be the first to admit these are difficult verses and Paul is well known for making statements that are challenging to grasp. Despite this, the fact that the earth will share in salvation in some way should be a strong indication that creation, including the earth on which we live, is very important to God. The full meaning of these verses is too complex to explore here right now, but I hope readers will appreciate the significance of creation to God, even in the paradigms of the New Testament.
For my Catholic friends out there I would also like to add some commentary from our current pontiff, Pope Francis. In May he gave a speech about our treatment of the earth. Among other things the pope said, "But when we exploit Creation we destroy the sign of God’s love for us, in destroying Creation we are saying to God: ‘I don’t like it! This is not good!’ ‘So what do you like?’ ‘I like myself!’ – Here, this is sin! Do you see?" I concur. You may read more about this speech by following this link.
To conclude, the Bible is clear: The earth is part of God's intricate creation and He cares for it very much. He purposed us with its care and proper management and He made us in His image so that we might accomplish that purpose. It's time we started to see the care of the earth as a moral mandate from God and the abuse of the earth as a sin. We need to start thinking about the sustainability of our consumer habits, the way we use land and ecosystems, and the way we manage our home properties which are our own local fiefdoms over which God has given us authority. The first step is to learn more about how we impact the earth with our individual actions and how we can make individual changes that can contribute to healthy ecosystems. My mission is to enable anyone willing to make those changes by providing how-to's, information, and examples centered around landscaping and backyard ecology. It's just a small part of a much bigger picture but I hope to make a difference by doing this one thing well. This is Domicile Ecophile.
Friday, July 18, 2014
Horace's Duskywing
Here's if photo of our newest butterfly, Horace's Duskywing. Its a poor photo but I think it does the job. This is the first of this species I have seen, at least that I know of. If my ID is incorrect I would certainly appreciate constructive correction. This is only our third native lepidopteran identified and showed up at the new coneflower patch.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
the Birds of the Backyard: Initial Observations
We've been living here for less than a month and I have a pretty solid grasp of the avifauna that are resident in and around the property. If you have read some of my other posts you know that birds are my main interest and much of my other interest in backyard ecology revolves around and relates to my love of birds.
First off, the yard "life list" stands at 29 species right now. Serious birders keep a list of all of the wild, free-flying species they have seen in their life and this is called a life list. Many birders also keep a yard list, or a life list for birds seen in their yard. When I was younger and lived with my parents in a suburban yard in a relatively high-density area with little tree cover I had a yard list of over 60 species. That yard had almost no native plants and no trees. When I got married we moved to a house with a little bit more property and plenty of hardwoods, but little in the way of native understory. Still, the yard was a vast improvement over my parents' and was situated near lots of forested public land. There I worked very hard to find every bird that put so much as a feather on the property and after four years I had amassed a list of 105 species. I hope that my new property will solidly beat that total in time. It is bigger and it is mine. That means I can modify it as I see fit and "birdscaping" is a top priority.
Summer in the sub-taiga Northeast is often a boring time for birds. We don't have a huge diversity of breeders and no signifiant migration is taking place in July. There is a nature preserve very nearby and bodies of water within a mile or so. I have heard a Wood Thrush, a relative of the familiar American Robin which is also present, singing almost daily from the nature preserve. This is a woodland species that has declined in the last century like most woodland species. I have not seen it in the yard, but I hope that will change in coming years as I install a planned native understory: The thrush is a ground-loving species that requires cover.
I have seen parents of the following species feeding juveniles in the yard; White-breasted Nuthatch, Common Grackle, Northern Cardinal, Red-bellied Woodpecker, House Finch, European Starling, and Blue Jay. I have also seen juvenile Mourning Doves and House Sparrows, though not in the act of being fed. All of these are common "backyard species" that should be expected in most yards in the Northeastern United States in summer. Next year I plan to place a number of nest boxes to assist native species and increase the number of species that can nest in the yard.
All of these species and others have been using the feeders I have placed. Right now I am offering suet, safflower, and a little thistle seed for no other reason than its what I have on hand. In addition to the species already mentioned the feeders have attracted Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Downy Woodpecker, and the occasional American Goldfinch. House Wrens and Carolina Wrens, Turkey Vultures, and Red-tailed Hawks have been present around the yard as well, though not at the feeders. I have seen essentially no species that require special habitats or conditions above and beyond the typical backyard with two exceptions. First is the aforementioned Wood Thrush which needs the right kind of habitat with understory. The second is a Pileated Woodpecker I have seen once and heard twice. This is the largest of our local woodpeckers and requires large dead trees. Both have been heard from the nearby preserve but neither has physically touched my property, yet.
This morning I saw 22 species in a 75-minute observation session and two more later in the day, making a high day-count of 24. I suspect most suburban yards can put up numbers between 15-25 on a typical mid-summer or mid-winter day. In the fall I expect to conduct some multi-hour counts that may top 30 species. It will be interesting to see how these numbers change as the exotic plants are removed and replaced with natives. Overall this summary should provide a pretty good sense of what is and isn't it the yard right now. Regular bird updates should be expected as summer progresses into fall and migrants start to arrive.
First off, the yard "life list" stands at 29 species right now. Serious birders keep a list of all of the wild, free-flying species they have seen in their life and this is called a life list. Many birders also keep a yard list, or a life list for birds seen in their yard. When I was younger and lived with my parents in a suburban yard in a relatively high-density area with little tree cover I had a yard list of over 60 species. That yard had almost no native plants and no trees. When I got married we moved to a house with a little bit more property and plenty of hardwoods, but little in the way of native understory. Still, the yard was a vast improvement over my parents' and was situated near lots of forested public land. There I worked very hard to find every bird that put so much as a feather on the property and after four years I had amassed a list of 105 species. I hope that my new property will solidly beat that total in time. It is bigger and it is mine. That means I can modify it as I see fit and "birdscaping" is a top priority.
Summer in the sub-taiga Northeast is often a boring time for birds. We don't have a huge diversity of breeders and no signifiant migration is taking place in July. There is a nature preserve very nearby and bodies of water within a mile or so. I have heard a Wood Thrush, a relative of the familiar American Robin which is also present, singing almost daily from the nature preserve. This is a woodland species that has declined in the last century like most woodland species. I have not seen it in the yard, but I hope that will change in coming years as I install a planned native understory: The thrush is a ground-loving species that requires cover.
I have seen parents of the following species feeding juveniles in the yard; White-breasted Nuthatch, Common Grackle, Northern Cardinal, Red-bellied Woodpecker, House Finch, European Starling, and Blue Jay. I have also seen juvenile Mourning Doves and House Sparrows, though not in the act of being fed. All of these are common "backyard species" that should be expected in most yards in the Northeastern United States in summer. Next year I plan to place a number of nest boxes to assist native species and increase the number of species that can nest in the yard.
All of these species and others have been using the feeders I have placed. Right now I am offering suet, safflower, and a little thistle seed for no other reason than its what I have on hand. In addition to the species already mentioned the feeders have attracted Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Downy Woodpecker, and the occasional American Goldfinch. House Wrens and Carolina Wrens, Turkey Vultures, and Red-tailed Hawks have been present around the yard as well, though not at the feeders. I have seen essentially no species that require special habitats or conditions above and beyond the typical backyard with two exceptions. First is the aforementioned Wood Thrush which needs the right kind of habitat with understory. The second is a Pileated Woodpecker I have seen once and heard twice. This is the largest of our local woodpeckers and requires large dead trees. Both have been heard from the nearby preserve but neither has physically touched my property, yet.
This morning I saw 22 species in a 75-minute observation session and two more later in the day, making a high day-count of 24. I suspect most suburban yards can put up numbers between 15-25 on a typical mid-summer or mid-winter day. In the fall I expect to conduct some multi-hour counts that may top 30 species. It will be interesting to see how these numbers change as the exotic plants are removed and replaced with natives. Overall this summary should provide a pretty good sense of what is and isn't it the yard right now. Regular bird updates should be expected as summer progresses into fall and migrants start to arrive.
Monday, July 14, 2014
the Ecology of Ignorance
One of the main purposes of this blog is to provide a reference point, and indeed a compendium, for the various resources I expect to accumulate for those interested in educating himself or herself in the various principle of backyard ecology. References are important because I suspect that ignorance is a major source of the problem when it comes to the preponderance of invasives in our residential environments. When I say ignorance I don't mean in it a derogatory way, rather I mean just the simple condition that what people do not know is causing harm. I sincerely believe that a significant percentage of the population would approach plant selection, lawn care, or landscaping in general in a different way if they understood more about issues at hand. For this reason I believe one of the core purposes of the Domicle Ecophile is to educate, to eliminate that ignorance. Let me provide two simple examples to illustrate my point.
First, take a look at a common dynamic in the Northeast; the selection of the 'deer-resistant' plant. And for a specific example, we'll look at my favorite villain, the Japanese Barberry. Here is a case where what looks like a simple and innocuous decision is actually the root of a very serious problem. Deer browsing is a serious landscaping problem in the Northeastern United States. (This is itself an issue due to humans' complete removal of all native predators of deer, but that's another issue for another time.) The simple choice many landscapers and homeowners make is to choose a deer-resistant shrub like the Japanese Barberry over a plant that is likely to become a deer snack. Let us consider this: Why is barberry deer resistant? This answer is that deer don't eat it. For every barberry planted it means one more plant deer will not eat and one more place a deer-susceptible plant cannot grow. Most of the shrubs that deer eat are the ones with which they have been cohabiting for thousands of years; the ones which are native to North America. There are notable exceptions, but what this boils down to is as much a choice between exotic or native as it is between deer-resistant or deer-susceptible.
But the story isn't over yet. Japanese Barberry produces small berries that birds eat. (The nutritional value of these berries, or lack thereof, can be discussed at another time.) Nonetheless, the birds spread the seeds and produce new plants. The plants are tough, not grazed significantly by any North American species, and are fast-growing. As the plants spread there is increasing pressure on deer to graze the remaining palatable natives and gradually the deer clear out the natives and the barberry happily invade the space left vacant, creating huge monotypic groves. Monoculture promotes ecosystems lacking diversity at all levels and this is only compounded by the fact that in this case the monoculture plant is nearly useless to native animals. In some of our state parks I have personally seen sections with nothing but acres of barberry. Sadly, once these plants escape to the wild what was supposed to be an innocent landscaping decision transforms into an amorphous, ecological disaster. I have provided a link to some additional info on the threats posed by barberry from the U.S. National Park Service. A direct quote from the document pretty much sums it up, "Do not plant Japanese barberry."
Take the case of Buddleia as a second example of the "ecology of ignorance." The species Buddleia davidii is often sold at plant nurseries and even wildlife stores under the name "Butterfly Bush." I would suspect that many of my readers have heard of this plant and may even have one. The plant is advertised as attracting many species of butterflies to its nectar. While it does attract butterflies to its flowers, it does not provide food to caterpillars. This is because while adult butterflies do drink its nectar, but like many other exotics the leaves are inedible or unpalatable to their earlier life stages--the caterpillars. So what's the problem? The problem is that if there is no food for caterpillars, there will never be butterflies to come to the flowers later. Remember the life cycle of the butterfly from elementary school? Far better than an exotic that feeds only adults is a native plant like milkweed that provides food for multiple life stages and can serve as host for reproduction. What is worse is that in some climates the Buddleia can be an invasive, spreading into wild habitats and displacing native species. Take a minute to look what authorities in Kings County, Washington have to say of the plant. The irony, of course, is that many if not most of those who buy one of these plants think that they are helping wildlife. At best they are installing a second-rate plant with some ecological value, but at worst they are displacing native flora, encouraging nurseries to further stock exotics like the Buddleia, and making it harder for the very butterflies they want to attract to reproduce and exist in the first place.
The bottom line is that the average homeowner probably makes landscaping choices without knowing the full story about what they are planting. Individual plants might not make or break the existence of individual species, but when those decisions are multiplied by tens of thousands of suburban properties they can make a huge impact. This is why I will continue to urge homeowners to do some research and find out about what they are planting and how it will affect many animals they may never even see. Let's create a suburban ecology built on sustainable choices that support our indigenous wildlife rather than exclude it.
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| Typical signs at a local nursery in the Northeastern US. |
But the story isn't over yet. Japanese Barberry produces small berries that birds eat. (The nutritional value of these berries, or lack thereof, can be discussed at another time.) Nonetheless, the birds spread the seeds and produce new plants. The plants are tough, not grazed significantly by any North American species, and are fast-growing. As the plants spread there is increasing pressure on deer to graze the remaining palatable natives and gradually the deer clear out the natives and the barberry happily invade the space left vacant, creating huge monotypic groves. Monoculture promotes ecosystems lacking diversity at all levels and this is only compounded by the fact that in this case the monoculture plant is nearly useless to native animals. In some of our state parks I have personally seen sections with nothing but acres of barberry. Sadly, once these plants escape to the wild what was supposed to be an innocent landscaping decision transforms into an amorphous, ecological disaster. I have provided a link to some additional info on the threats posed by barberry from the U.S. National Park Service. A direct quote from the document pretty much sums it up, "Do not plant Japanese barberry."
Take the case of Buddleia as a second example of the "ecology of ignorance." The species Buddleia davidii is often sold at plant nurseries and even wildlife stores under the name "Butterfly Bush." I would suspect that many of my readers have heard of this plant and may even have one. The plant is advertised as attracting many species of butterflies to its nectar. While it does attract butterflies to its flowers, it does not provide food to caterpillars. This is because while adult butterflies do drink its nectar, but like many other exotics the leaves are inedible or unpalatable to their earlier life stages--the caterpillars. So what's the problem? The problem is that if there is no food for caterpillars, there will never be butterflies to come to the flowers later. Remember the life cycle of the butterfly from elementary school? Far better than an exotic that feeds only adults is a native plant like milkweed that provides food for multiple life stages and can serve as host for reproduction. What is worse is that in some climates the Buddleia can be an invasive, spreading into wild habitats and displacing native species. Take a minute to look what authorities in Kings County, Washington have to say of the plant. The irony, of course, is that many if not most of those who buy one of these plants think that they are helping wildlife. At best they are installing a second-rate plant with some ecological value, but at worst they are displacing native flora, encouraging nurseries to further stock exotics like the Buddleia, and making it harder for the very butterflies they want to attract to reproduce and exist in the first place.
The bottom line is that the average homeowner probably makes landscaping choices without knowing the full story about what they are planting. Individual plants might not make or break the existence of individual species, but when those decisions are multiplied by tens of thousands of suburban properties they can make a huge impact. This is why I will continue to urge homeowners to do some research and find out about what they are planting and how it will affect many animals they may never even see. Let's create a suburban ecology built on sustainable choices that support our indigenous wildlife rather than exclude it.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
First Flowers
It came to my attention one day last week that I had seen virtually no butterflies on the property since moving in with just a handful of invasive Cabbage Whites and a single native Mourning Cloak the only exceptions. Soon thereafter I realized why: There are no flowers on the property. None. Not even invasive ones.
I decided that I needed to get something in the ground immediately to deal with the problem. This was easy because I have had a number of species I planned to plant for years already. First of all I have about two dozen milkweed sprouts germinating. I collected the seeds from pods last fall. If my research is correct there are four native milkweed species in New Jersey and mine are of Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). These should produce pink flowers in not too much time. These are very valuable plants for native lepidopterans (butterfly species). Check out this article by James M. O’Neill from northjersey.com about planting milkweed in Northern New Jersey as means to assist native lepidopterans like the Monarch Butterfly. In mid-article Don Torino, president of a North Jersey Audubon chapter, is quoted as saying this is something anyone can do to make a difference to an otherwise overwhelming problem. I concur.
In addition in my moving boxes I found a can of assorted wildflower seeds that I sprinkled on a bare patch of ground. The seeds are native, but the can was packaged for the 2008 season and I expect a low germination rate. Today I came across some Eastern Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) on sale at a local nursery. It is late in the season and many plants are on clearance, so some good deals can be found. I purchased two purple-flowered plants (something like the wild types) and two that are white (obviously a domestic breed). This is a case where I am willing to be flexible: The white variety is not a wild phenotype, but it seems unlikely the pollen or leaf chemistry has been altered much in changing the flower color and therefore native insects and birds should still be able to utilize the plants just the same. I will be making close observations of the animals that visit the plants to confirm or deny this.
In short these were some simple and quick measures to bring some color to the yard and fill what is right now a major whole in my natural food supply. Best of all, these are perennials and the coneflowers are fairly drought-resistant. My lawn is already beginning to brown in the summer heat and rather than unsustainably waste hundreds if gallons of water to keep it alive, I intend to gradually replace more and more of it with native, heat-tolerant perennials.
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| Common Milkweed seedlings at 14 days. |
In addition in my moving boxes I found a can of assorted wildflower seeds that I sprinkled on a bare patch of ground. The seeds are native, but the can was packaged for the 2008 season and I expect a low germination rate. Today I came across some Eastern Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) on sale at a local nursery. It is late in the season and many plants are on clearance, so some good deals can be found. I purchased two purple-flowered plants (something like the wild types) and two that are white (obviously a domestic breed). This is a case where I am willing to be flexible: The white variety is not a wild phenotype, but it seems unlikely the pollen or leaf chemistry has been altered much in changing the flower color and therefore native insects and birds should still be able to utilize the plants just the same. I will be making close observations of the animals that visit the plants to confirm or deny this.
In short these were some simple and quick measures to bring some color to the yard and fill what is right now a major whole in my natural food supply. Best of all, these are perennials and the coneflowers are fairly drought-resistant. My lawn is already beginning to brown in the summer heat and rather than unsustainably waste hundreds if gallons of water to keep it alive, I intend to gradually replace more and more of it with native, heat-tolerant perennials.
The Mission of Domicile Ecophile
As a kid I imagined what I would do with my backyard if I
ever had one of my own. From a young age
I maintained birdfeeders and I gardened with my father. He taught me quite a bit about raising plants
and working the ground. I loathed our
small yard that had no trees and I watched with contempt when my neighbors
cut down their own trees because they "caused too much mess" or
because they "wanted more sun."
I hated when my neighbors or even my parents complained that we had too
many birds at our birdfeeders. I was
annoyed when the meager wildlife I had was scared off by neighborhood cats or
dogs or when a particular tree with berries or good cover was removed and the
wildlife went with it. If I had my way I
would have had big trees and a tree house.
I would have had a huge garden to plant anything I wanted to grow. (I found more fun in the growing than the
eating-- As a kid I wouldn't even eat half of what we grew.) I would have mounted my feeders any way I
wanted without any restrictions and I would have bought the hugest ones I could
find and no one would tell me otherwise.
This was the yard I wanted--tree, birds, flowers, and animals. A backyard in the woods.
It would be many years before I would finally have a
backyard of my own; about two decades in fact.
In that time much would happen: I
would become an Eagle Scout. I would go
to college and get a degree in biology and environmental science. I would become a high school teacher of
biology. Over a decade I would hike
nearly one thousand miles in a nearby state park. I would teach a high school horticulture
course (and as a result learn quite a bit).
I would live in a conservation region of my state for four years and
spend countless hours outdoors making subtle observation. I would set a county-level record for most
species of birds seen in a year (called a county "big year"). I would develop an environmental science
course for the high school and teach that course (and learn quite a bit
more). All the while ideas were brewing
in my head.
Not long ago my wife and I finally obtained a house and a
yard of our own. I finally have a
laboratory to play out all of the experiments in sustainability and conservation
that I have been mulling over for years.
But in the last few years these ideas have coalesced into a
mission. I have read enough articles and
reports to convince me that populations of all of our native wildlife have
decreased over the last few hundred years.
Bird populations have plummeted.
Many native insects and plants have become endangered. Bats, frogs, and even bees are becoming
scarce due amorphous causes. Meanwhile
other populations go unchecked, many of them exotic species not native to the
areas they now dominate. Deer, coyotes,
bears, and other species wander into residential areas where contact with
humans, pets, and automobiles causes harm and even death to both people and
wildlife alike. Could it be that these
are symptoms of a broken ecosystem? I
think there can be little doubt that they are and I think there can be little
doubt that we are the cause of it all.
But if we are the cause, then we must also be the
solution. I believe that humans have a
moral obligation to properly manage the earth and its living things. I believe we bear the responsibility of
ensuring that all of earth's species continue to exist in a way that ensures
the balance of life on earth. To me that
balance means that all living things will have what they need to survive as a
population, humans included. (I am not
an animal rights activist. I believe
populations should preserved, not necessarily individual organisms.) I have specific reasons why I hold these
beliefs, which I am sure I will get into in future posts, but the specifics are
not important. I hope to appeal to
anyone, conservationist or not, on the basis of logic, economics, and common
sense and I will certainly partner with anyone with similar views on
sustainability and conservation, even if their reasons for those views are
dissimilar to my own.
I am embarking upon a journey to convert my yard into
something that will give back to the ecosystem, rather than just replace
it. It is a mission to do my best to do
my duty to God and my country to see our native plants and animals preserved
for the sake of our own sustainability as a nation and as a human race and to
help fulfill the moral mandate I believe we have been given. I am NOT an expert. I am not authoritative. I am not published, credentialed, or
certified. Along the way I will make
mistakes. I will have setbacks and
victories. In the end, I will have
accomplished my goal if I can strengthen the integrity of my own property's
ecology and encourage and educate others to do the same. This mission is as much about education and
awareness as it is about action. So
follow me, virtually and literally, as I share what I know and what I discover
about building a sustainable backyard ecosystem. Together we can all be Domicile Ecophiles.
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