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birdsonglandscapes.bsky.social
Birdsong Landscapes
@birdsonglandscapes.bsky.social
Native habitat restorationist in Ohio with a focus on prairies, woodlands, edible plants and land-use history.
How a hummingbird nest is constructed
#hummingbird #ecology #conservation
August 11, 2025 at 7:35 PM
July 27, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Reposted by Birdsong Landscapes
On 7/1/2024, I went out to photograph some plants in my yard and a local park in Southwest, Ohio. I photographed this Tall Larkspur, Delphinium exaltatum in my yard. Photographed with my Canon R5 at F13, ISO 160 at 1/320 with my Canon EF 100 mm macro lens and my Canon twin flash.
February 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM
American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) was once the matriarch of Eastern woodlands and forests, in some places comprising 40% of the tree population. Over 4 billion trees perished when blight was introduced around 1900. @ohiotacf.bsky.social
#americanchestnut #oldgrowth #restoration
January 31, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Planting #nativeplants on 12in-16in centers allows for them to meld together and completely fill the area. #Prairieplants have evolved to thrive in these close quarters. Remember that sunlight+bare ground = weeds.
#nativehabitat #ecology #nativegarden #pollinatorgarden
January 28, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Mimic and learn from the prairie by planting densely and using plenty of grasses and sedges. This creates a complex habitat and helps prevent weeds.
#nativehabitat #nativeplants #ecology #prairie #nativeplantgardening
January 26, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Regal moths, also called hickory horned devils when caterpillars, require certain native trees to survive. Black walnut, hickories, persimmon, and sweetgum are their preferred host plants. Regal moths can have a 6in wingspan and are very large. #nativeplants #nativehabitat #ecology #moth #birdfood
January 26, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Another reason to leave your dead stems overwinter and even into the spring - birds use hemp-like strands of Milkweed or Dogbane to help construct their nests. A Yellow Warbler holds the tough fiber of Milkweed before returning to the nest.
#nativeplants #nativehabitat #birding #ecology #milkweed
January 23, 2025 at 2:53 AM
This is me standing next to a mature American Hazelnut. The second pic shows its stunning orangey-red fall color. Hazelnut thickets occupied thousands of acres in Ohio. Unfortunately it is highly underrated and should be planted more often
#ecology #nativeplants #nativehabitat #thicket #hazelnut
January 22, 2025 at 9:05 PM
"It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not die, but retire a little from sight and afterwards return again."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

#nativehabitat #nativeplants #ecology #littlemiami #ohio
January 22, 2025 at 7:18 PM
One of the sweetest fragrance of any flower is Sweet Crabapple (Malus coronaria) in bloom, one of our native apples. The pink blossoms are pollinated by solitary bees. It has faced steep declines here in Ohio as invasive plants steal its habitat. #nativeplants #nativehabitat #nativefruit #thicket
January 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Pawpaws grow in patches, creating thickets by sprouting new plants from the roots. This pawpaw patch is likely hundreds of years old, we have no way of dating them. Shawnee Lookout Park, Ohio.
#nativeplants #nativehabitat #ecology #nativefruit #pawpaw #oldgrowth
January 22, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Hard to believe it but here's the proof - Dept of Ag once promoted and distributed invasive plants such as Multiflora Rose and Japanese Lespedezas, as well as Kudzu, Japanese Honeysuckle, and Autumn Olive. A huge ecological disaster and one that the US govt largely created.
#invasivespecies
January 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Story of the lost American Chestnut Bee (Andrena rehni) and its rediscovery. Check out TACF.org for more.
#ecology #nativeplants #nativehabitat #americanchestnut #nativebees #pollinators
January 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
One of the pleasures of growing plants from seed is witnessing the plasticity of genetic expression in each species. Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tincintana) is an easy to grow annual. Often it has a small reddish center to the flower petals, however this one is mostly reddish-maroon #nativeplants
January 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Posion Ivy creates white berries that are beloved by birds, especially tropical migrants who must fly over the Gulf of Mexico. They cross the 500 mile body of water overnight in one nonstop flight. High lipid berries like Posion Ivy and Spicebush fuel them #nativehabitat #nativeplants #ecology #gulf
January 20, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Sunflower pollination has nothing to do with the large yellow flower petals that catch our eye. Rather the circular middle is made up of hundreds of tiny individual flowers called florets. Native bees or other insects pollinate each one, and each floret becomes a seed. #ecology #nativehabitat #bees
January 20, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Wild Plums are perhaps the most overlooked, underrated native plant. Early season blooms for pollinators, dense thicket structure for nesting and cover, and delicious fruit that ripens by late summer. (Prunus sp.)
#nativeplants #nativehabitat #ecology #nativefruit #pollinators #wildplum
January 20, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Chickadees must survive subzero nights while weighing less than half an ounce. Staghorn Sumac is a vital winter food source for them along with fruits from Smilax, Winterberry, and Hackberry.

#nativeplants #nativehabitat #birdfeeder #ecology
January 19, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) in golden-yellow fall color. Spicebush is deer resistant and one of the most common understory shrubs in Ohio's forests.
#nativeplants #nativehabitat #ecology #conservation
January 19, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Reposted by Birdsong Landscapes
Purple Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe involucrata) is a very popular plant in the native food forest for the amusement value alone. Bumble bees roll in the flowers, shaking them like tiny carnival rides. Seedheads of Eastern Beebalm also in view. 🌱
#NativePlants #Pollinators #BugSky #Insects #Permaculture
January 18, 2025 at 9:09 PM
January 18, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)
#nativeplants #ecology #nativehabitat
January 18, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Before and After: Native wildflower meadow. I took out this turfgrass and seeded a diverse mix of native perennials and annuals as well as native grasses and sedges. The yellow flower is Bidens aristosa, an annual. Spring Valley, OH
#ecology #nativehabitat #prairieseeding #homegrownnationalpark
January 17, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Extinct animals of Ohio #history #ecology #extinction
January 15, 2025 at 6:25 PM