There and Back Again Farm has established a Wild Bird Sanctuary on 10 Acers in Milford Ohio. Wild birds are a very important part of the ecological system. Without wild birds entire ecosystems could collapse. Wild birds are responsible for the spread of seeds through their droppings, control of insect populations, pollinating of many different kinds of plants and they are also an important link in the food chain.
The Daily Record reported in December 2019 in an article by Noelle Bye that North America’s bird population has declined by 2.9 billion since 1970. The source of this information was cited as a report from the journal “Science” Titled Billions of Birds. The following is a quote from Noelle Bye’s article, “As a group, grassland birds, such as meadowlarks and bobolinks, have seen the biggest declines, the Billion Birds report showed. Grassland bird populations collectively have declined by 53%, or another 720 million birds.”
What has There and Back Again Farm done for the wild bird population?
In 2016 Kahil and Sherry Mulla bought 10 acres in Milford Ohio. It was basically a junk yard. However we knew that the property was a jewel in disguise! We immediately started cleaning up the land and managing it to preserve and promote local wild life populations, especially birds, pollinators and amphibians. Besides cleaning the property up, (a work still in progress), we have created brush piles, planted many different kinds of plants for the birds and pollinators, manage the prairie fields so they remain prairie fields and allow the woods to remain natural. We have also established brush piles to provide bird habitat and put out feeding stations. Our biggest challenge to date was to promote the dissipation of non-persistent oils, (gasoline, light diesel and kerosene) in a field directly in front of the pond. Last spring we decided to rent a backhoe and dig a small drainage pit near the pond. The land has a 2 percent fall so the drainage pit filled quickly. We could see the non-persistent oils collect in the drainage pit’s water. By midsummer it appeared the pollutants had completely dissipated. The drainage pit is now called “Peeper Pond” because it became a home for many peepers, (little frogs).
A list of some of the wild birds we have spotted or heard include Great Horned Owl, Red Shouldered Hawk, Red Tailed Hawk, Merlin Falcon, Praguian Falcon, Humming birds (Many different kinds), Robin, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Different types of Sparrows, Indigo Bunting, Cardinal, (There are a pair of female cardinals that are almost yellow), Starling, Nut Hatch, Many different kinds of Wood Peckers, Dark Eyed Junko, Blue Jay, Wood Duck, Towhee, Tiffed Titmouse, Meadow Lark, Black Finch, Red Wing Black Bird, Turkey, Vulture, Morning Dove… I am sure there are a few more I am forgetting
If you would like to help There and Back Again Farm maintain and grow habitat for wild birds you can contribute to our Wild Bird Sanctuary through our PayPal account or you can purchase plants, seeds, bulbs or other merchandise offered on this web site. We thank you for your support.