2020 Wildlife Sanctuary Tour
Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Indian pink. Photo by National Audubon Society.
Sunday, September 13
3:30 PM
via Webinar
Tickets:
$10 for Georgia Audubon members
$12 for non-members
Registration for this event is now closed. Registered guests will receive an email with login information for the Zoom Webinar.
This year's Wildlife Sanctuary Tour is going to look a little different due to COVID-19. Instead of an in-person tour, we'll be offering a virtual tour. Gabe Andrle, Georgia Audubon's habitat conservation program coordinator will be giving us a video tour of a handful of Wildlife Sanctuaries and sharing ways that you can transform your yard into a sanctuary for birds and other wildlife.
In addition, we have arranged with the property owners to be on the webinar so that guests may ask specific questions about each property, what plants they used, and how they went about building their wildlife sanctuaries. Read more about our featured properties below.
3:30 PM
via Webinar
Tickets:
$10 for Georgia Audubon members
$12 for non-members
Registration for this event is now closed. Registered guests will receive an email with login information for the Zoom Webinar.
This year's Wildlife Sanctuary Tour is going to look a little different due to COVID-19. Instead of an in-person tour, we'll be offering a virtual tour. Gabe Andrle, Georgia Audubon's habitat conservation program coordinator will be giving us a video tour of a handful of Wildlife Sanctuaries and sharing ways that you can transform your yard into a sanctuary for birds and other wildlife.
In addition, we have arranged with the property owners to be on the webinar so that guests may ask specific questions about each property, what plants they used, and how they went about building their wildlife sanctuaries. Read more about our featured properties below.
2020 Wildlife Sanctuary Tour Properties
The beauty of the 2020 Wildlife Sanctuary Tour is that we are not bound by a tour route, so we will be featuring a variety of properties from across the state. We are delighted to partner with Oconee Rivers Audubon Society to feature one of their certified properties on this year's tour, as well as two Georgia Audubon-certified properties, and one of Georgia Audubon's Habitat Restoration sites. Georgia Audubon and Oconee Rivers Audubon Society are working to merge our habitat certification programs and to ultimately expand the program statewide, creating more habitat for birds from the mountains to the coast and everywhere in between. We hope you will plan to join us for this virtual tour!
Photos by Georgia LaMar.
Cody Luedtke, Tucker, GA
Cody Luedtke is not afraid of change. When she purchased her house a few years ago, she had a vision of creating a wildlife-friendly, mostly native front yard. But the house she purchased had a yard full of turf grass. With an incredible input of time and labor, she removed all of the turf grass and transformed her yard into a beautiful pollinator meadow and edible landscape. Visitors are stunned at the amazing plant diversity found in her Tucker yard. When asked to describe her yard, Cody uses the following terms—edible, native, diverse, functional, intentional.
Cody Luedtke is not afraid of change. When she purchased her house a few years ago, she had a vision of creating a wildlife-friendly, mostly native front yard. But the house she purchased had a yard full of turf grass. With an incredible input of time and labor, she removed all of the turf grass and transformed her yard into a beautiful pollinator meadow and edible landscape. Visitors are stunned at the amazing plant diversity found in her Tucker yard. When asked to describe her yard, Cody uses the following terms—edible, native, diverse, functional, intentional.
Photo by Adam Betuel.
Cascade Springs Nature Preserve, Southwest Atlanta
Cascade Springs Nature Preserve is a gem in the Utoy Creek Watershed in Southwest Atlanta. Thanks to a 2019 Five Star and Urban Waters grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Georgia Audubon has been working with the Friends of Cascade Springs Nature Preserve and six other partners to restore 12 acres of bottomland forest as well as gathering bird population data, installing interpretive signage, and conducting a series of educational programs with the local community. The restoration efforts were focused on improving the habitat for resident and migratory songbirds, including Wood Thrush, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Prothonotary Warbler, Canada Warbler, and Cape May Warbler. The restoration work focused on freeing the intact native tree canopy and repressed native seed bed by removing invasive, exotic plants such as Chinese privet, English ivy, and Japanese chaff flower and installing bird-friendly native plants as appropriate to supplement the native seed bed and provide more immediate benefits to birds and wildlife
Cascade Springs Nature Preserve is a gem in the Utoy Creek Watershed in Southwest Atlanta. Thanks to a 2019 Five Star and Urban Waters grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Georgia Audubon has been working with the Friends of Cascade Springs Nature Preserve and six other partners to restore 12 acres of bottomland forest as well as gathering bird population data, installing interpretive signage, and conducting a series of educational programs with the local community. The restoration efforts were focused on improving the habitat for resident and migratory songbirds, including Wood Thrush, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Prothonotary Warbler, Canada Warbler, and Cape May Warbler. The restoration work focused on freeing the intact native tree canopy and repressed native seed bed by removing invasive, exotic plants such as Chinese privet, English ivy, and Japanese chaff flower and installing bird-friendly native plants as appropriate to supplement the native seed bed and provide more immediate benefits to birds and wildlife
Photos by Gabe Andrle
Dan Coleman, Coweta County
Dan Coleman has lived on this property since 1991 and has spent years restoring it to the natural greenspace it once was. He has continuously worked to remove non-native invasive species and plant natives. Dan volunteers at a wonderful native plant nursery called Nearly Native where has gotten many great native plants for his property. He allows his green space to manage itself in many ways, allowing fallen leaves to stay on the ground, fallen logs to decay, and plants to grow to provide habitat for both insects and other wildlife. The ecologically significant layered canopy on-site is accompanied by a variety of nest boxes giving birds and even flying squirrels a place to live. Entering this sanctuary truly feels like entering a state park or nature preserve!
Dan Coleman has lived on this property since 1991 and has spent years restoring it to the natural greenspace it once was. He has continuously worked to remove non-native invasive species and plant natives. Dan volunteers at a wonderful native plant nursery called Nearly Native where has gotten many great native plants for his property. He allows his green space to manage itself in many ways, allowing fallen leaves to stay on the ground, fallen logs to decay, and plants to grow to provide habitat for both insects and other wildlife. The ecologically significant layered canopy on-site is accompanied by a variety of nest boxes giving birds and even flying squirrels a place to live. Entering this sanctuary truly feels like entering a state park or nature preserve!
Photos by Gabe Andrle
Dr. Richard Hall, Athens
Oconee Rivers Audubon Society-certified property
When Dr. Richard Hall moved into his home in Athens about 10 years ago, the yard was full of bamboo, wisteria, English ivy, and other non-native invasive plants. With a background in ecology, he quickly became interested in bringing native flora and fauna back into the greenspace. Today, there is no denying that an incredible transformation has taken place. Both front and backyard are now filled with a variety of locally-sourced native plants that have become host to an incredible array of insect life, directly supporting birds and other wildlife. Dr. Hall added a wondrous water feature that has become a focal point in the yard, as it invites dozens and dozens of species of birds to drink and bathe throughout the year. Whether removing encroaching non-native invasive plants in the garden or sitting in his screen porch watching birds come in for an evening bath, this sanctuary provides endless learning, engagement, and relaxation. As a board member of Oconee Rivers Audubon Society, Dr. Hall directly supports wildlife and bird conservation, not only in his backyard, but also in his community.
Oconee Rivers Audubon Society-certified property
When Dr. Richard Hall moved into his home in Athens about 10 years ago, the yard was full of bamboo, wisteria, English ivy, and other non-native invasive plants. With a background in ecology, he quickly became interested in bringing native flora and fauna back into the greenspace. Today, there is no denying that an incredible transformation has taken place. Both front and backyard are now filled with a variety of locally-sourced native plants that have become host to an incredible array of insect life, directly supporting birds and other wildlife. Dr. Hall added a wondrous water feature that has become a focal point in the yard, as it invites dozens and dozens of species of birds to drink and bathe throughout the year. Whether removing encroaching non-native invasive plants in the garden or sitting in his screen porch watching birds come in for an evening bath, this sanctuary provides endless learning, engagement, and relaxation. As a board member of Oconee Rivers Audubon Society, Dr. Hall directly supports wildlife and bird conservation, not only in his backyard, but also in his community.
