Backyard Campout - June 27, 2009

Anyone want to camp out at the Fellowship? The national Backyard Campout is on June 27 and we are trying to organize some folks to camp out with us. Just bring a tent and sleeping bag, some simple to fix foods, and lanterns, musical instruments, and your family!

Sound like fun?

Here's the website about the campout: http://www.nwf.org/backyardcampout/about.cfm

Check it out!

Outdoor Adventures Nearby

There are lots of places close to Columbia where you and your parents can explore the out of doors.

This website: www.naturefind.com/greenhour/zip.asp

will let you enter your zip code (or location) to find the parks closest to you. Then you can visit the park website to find out what's available. Many parks have nature trails, camping, boating and picnic facilities.

This is a great time to get outside and use your observational skills to see what a natural habitat looks like.

Have fun!

Additions from Sophia

Sophia would like us to add the following birds to our list:

Black Capped Chickadees
Woodpeckers
Mockingbirds

You can click on the bird and get more information from Wikipedia.

Thanks, Sophia!

UUFC Backyard Habitat

Welcome to our UUFC Backyard Habitat!

We are working on a community wildlife habitat and hope to certify it through the National Wildlife Federation. Click here to go to a page about creating and certifying habitats.

First steps: We have done an inventory of the plants in our landscape.

We found these plants last Sunday:

Azalea
Boxwood
Camellia japonica
Hedera helix (English Ivy)
Magnolia grandiflora
Nandina domestica
Oak trees
Rosemary
Sweet Violet
Vetch
Vinca (or periwinkle)
Vitex
Wild Cherry
Wild Geranium

We still have some plants to identify and will add them to our list soon.


You can look at pictures of some of these these plants here:


SC Native Plant Society website or go online to the USC Herbarium:

Now we need to plan the habitat -- what location would work best? Look at the entire landscape of the Fellowship and decide on a place that could have these four things:

Food - food can be provided in a feeder, or grown as a plant or shrub
Water - birdbath, rain garden, or wetland area
Cover - shrubs, grasses, ground cover, etc.
Nesting Places - trees, large shrubs, gourds, birdhouses

It should be a place that does not get too much traffic -- wildlife is happier when we don't get too close -- but a place that will let us observe what visits.

What kind of wildlife do we want to attract? Birds, of course, butterflies and moths, frogs, lizards, and interesting insects.

Try making a list of the birds you know and see often. That should include these birds native to South Carolina:

Blue Jay
Cardinal
Carolina Wren
American Goldfinch
Hummingbird
Mourning Dove
Robin
Thrush

Bring your lists next Sunday and we will compare. We can do some research on these birds and what they like to eat, what they need to nest, etc. and continue planning our habitat.