Safe Passage Days!

It's spring migration! Hopefully you've planned your bird-friendly tactics for the season: bird and bug friendly plants, diurnal window distractions and a reduction in nocturnal light pollution. Eh? Light pollution is a pet peeve of mine - growing up in Houston, I knew that the moon had many 2D shapes, but the first time I ever saw that it was 3D was in Abilene (perhaps it never dawned on me to look closer in IL).

Beyond light pollution, though, is the fatal distraction that it causes for nocturnal migrants. Arguably, residential lights shouldn't be a problem (humor your neighbors though, and quit using floodlights!) but commercial buildings are a huge problem. Huge; they're tall objects that block birds during migration. Lights add to the death toll by confusing birds who will circle or flutter against the building until they're exhausted.

Annarbor.com posted this absolutely wonderful piece: Safe Passages Great Lakes Days: Help birds migrate safely March 15 to May 31 - it is a simple and direct message. And if the suggestions are followed, each building could save hundreds of lives.

I wish I could find it - somewhere there's a study about one building cutting bird mortality by around 70% just by turning the lights off at night during migration. A lot of birds still died, but the improvement was great for such an easy step.

Hopefully I'll get the last pile of photos uploaded soon, I've been under the weather all week. Matt has been cheering on his Baylor Bears (the men and women are BOTH rockin' the courts this season) in between bringing me soup and tea. Did I mention that I married into a green and gold family? I married into a very beary family ;-)

GO BEARS!!!