Sowing Seeds for the Future

Have you ever struggled with germinating Milkweed seeds? A lot of folks wonder how to get those seeds started. Generally it is best to plant them in the fall or early winter, as milkweed (Asclepias sp.) seeds native to Ohio need to be stratified, meaning cold treated.

Elijah Martineau with his excellent poster.

 Yesterday I met an extraordinary young man and had the opportunity to discuss Monarchs and Milkweed seeds with him.  His poster showed a step by step process for easily germinating seed which need to be cold treated.

Here is a large photo of Elijah's poster and below is a portion of his text:

The best time to sow seeds (also called seed stratification) is late January or early February. This is so the seeds get the necessary amount of cold temperature time.

Once warm weather sets in, you may need to tear the duct tape off so you can keep the soil moist.

Transplant the small plants when they have four leaves, either into the ground or into small pots.

 Keep the plants watered while they are developing their root system during the first summer.

It is unlikely the milkweed plants will flower the first year and may take 2 - 3 years to flower.  It can still be used as a host plant for Monarchs.  Try growing some nectar plants to provide food for adult butterflies. 

                                                            From Elijah Martineau's poster display. 

  Cutting drainage holes.

Watering the seed from the bottom. 

I hope Elijah's poster gives you some ideas for germinating Milkweed seed, but he was not the only conservation minded citizen I met yesterday.  He was just a small part of an incredible gathering at the Wilderness Center in Wilmot, Ohio, where the children were remarkable and the youth were taking charge!

It was my honor to attend the Ohio Young Birders Club Annual Conference.  These are some of the brightest and best of our future generation.  Lest you think they are only "bird brains," I'll dispel that notion rather quickly.  These youth may have united over birding, but they are budding scientists and conservationist!  OYBC empowers them with remarkable educational opportunities.  They are birding, butterflying, mothing, on land and by and kayak.  They check out plants, insects and all matter of life on earth.  This is the place for youth to meet other like minded youth and to be educationally encouraged. 

 If you, too, think kids should use their brains, I hope you will buy an adult membership or send the a nice $$ check to support the OYBC efforts! I can honestly say meeting these students is always a highlight of the year for me.  If they are our future, we will be OK after all.

ABA's Young Birder of the year, Alec Wyatt presented Taking Action for Birds.

The excellent programs ranged from Growth and Development of Blue Birds by Stephen Bischoff, The Impact of Plastic on Birds by Dakota Callaway, 4-H and Ohio Birds by Corrine Woods, Birding Costa Rica by Tyler Flicker and Ethan Rising, Soaring with Birds by Joey Tomei, Listing Research and Competition by Doug Whitman and Trevor Zook, and Alec Wyatt's, Taking Action for Birds.

Alec travelled to Ohio from San Antonio, Texas to give his presentation and I predict we will be hearing more about this young man in the future!

A young-at-heart Kenn Kaufman and his Bird ID Quiz was assisted by Cassidy Flicker, Helena Souffrant and Nate Koszycki.  May Martineau was an excellent M-C for the event.

 Thanks to all the students and the excellent staff of Black Swamp Bird Observatory for providing the platform to success for this incredible group.  I hope to see you all at the conference next year!

Ohio Young Birders Conference 2011

If ever you doubt the abilities of today's youth or think that all our teens are going to heck in a hand basket- let me invite you to join me at next year's Ohio Young Birders Conference. It is the most amazing event, filled with talented- and I don't mean just "talented for kids"- I mean talented youth! Meet Rachael Butek- ABA's Young Birder of the Year and the Keynote speaker of our Ohio event. Rachael kept birding journals, wrote stories, created artwork and did photography for the ABA competition. This young woman is the very definition of an achiever! I predict nothing will get in the way of Rachael's success and we can't wait to see the places she will go.

And speaking of far out places- young Lukas Padegimas, age 18 gave a program on "An Epic Adventure in the Alaskan Arctic." See those tents? See the bear-wire in front of them? Oh yeah, he spent the summer there. WAY out there. It is so humbling to meet these young men and women who are already doing studies on birds and achieving more that I have ever dreamed possible.

About 110 folks came out to enjoy these programs and become amazed at the talented kids we had in our midst. Since Black Swamp Bird Observatory first started the Ohio Young Birders, it has been a pleasure to associate with these young folks. And believe me, I learn so much from them!

Kenn Kaufman gives a bird quiz each year, and here are the kids that rocked it this year. It is pretty incredible for a guy like Kenn to spend time mentoring the birders of tomorrow. Heck, these are the birders of today! And it was a thrill to be there with this dynamic crowd.

A special thanks to Ken Keffer, John Sawvel, Delores Coles, Kenn and Kim Kaufman and the many other people who helped with this event. I can't wait until next year!