Photo: Seeding Butterfly Weed and Black-eyed Susan, Anne Owen
By Lisa Mackem
Many Audubon education and advocacy programs have been canceled or paused due to Covid-19. Fortunately, the Audubon at Home (AAH) program continues. Applicant numbers are down, but people who are proactive, enthusiastic and committed about attracting native wildlife to their yards continue to apply. “We have quality over quantity,” says Anne Owen. Anne is a Virginia Master Naturalist, AAH Ambassador and the Program Coordinator for AAH in Loudoun County.
Anne sees the Audubon at Home program’s focus on creating, restoring and enriching wildlife habitat at the individual property level as a great example of Doug Tallamy’s call for “Conservation that Starts in Your Yard.” Anne explains, “Property qualifies as AAH Wildlife Sanctuary with at least two critical habitat features, typically, a pollinator garden (which can be planted in pots) and a water source (a birdbath, natural stream, or rain garden.) Also, the owner must record at least 10 sanctuary species over a three year period. Certified properties range from an apartment balcony to acres of woodland.”
Anne lives in Loudoun, where the AAH program is a partnership between ASNV and Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. She became involved with the program as a client, shortly after buying her property. She has spent four years planting native plants on grassy or non-productive land and had her front yard professionally landscaped with native plants. Now, Anne enjoys numerous pollinator insects – her main passion during the summer. She has Eastern Phoebes nesting and has observed them feeding their chicks with caterpillars. She also has Eastern Bluebirds, House Finches and House Wrens nesting on her property, and has seen Downy, Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers, Wild Turkeys and Red-shouldered Hawks. Other wildlife on her property include frogs, toads, snakes, eastern box turtles, salamanders, raccoons, skunk, possum, rabbits, foxes – even a bear from time to time. Anne continues to be struck by the tremendously rich flora and fauna in Northern Virginia.
“The key thing that sets AAH apart from other wildlife habitat programs,” says Anne, “is that in normal times, an Ambassador visits each property to meet with the client, tour the property, list suggestions to improve the quality of wildlife habitat and follow-up with a report for the client.” With in-person visits suspended, Anne has been offering clients telephone consultations. “It’s not as good as being on-site but it helps people get preliminary information and start creating their habitat.”
“Nature is in trouble and needs our help,” says Anne. “Few people can replant a forest, but you can start adding native plants on your own land to provide habitat and a food source for native insects, then birds will follow. It’s a fun, practical level of engagement.” For example, a pollinator powerhouse like Coneflower (Rudbeckia spp.) will attract native bees and butterflies and they might bring goldfinches when it goes to seed. Most people can satisfy Home Owner Association restrictions with native plants but Anne advises clients to check their HOA requirements first before substantially investing in property changes.
Click here for more information about the Audubon at Home program.