DID YOU HAVE an abnormally dry rising season this 12 months—one the place it felt such as you simply couldn’t sustain with the watering, possibly? As we speak’s visitor, naturalist and artist Julie Zickefoose, and I each did in our in any other case completely different backyard places—locations that normally have loads of rain.
Moreover prompting frustration and a few plant failures, the dry occasions additionally had us making observations concerning the impression of drought on numerous types of wildlife.
Julie Zickefoose lives and gardens within the Appalachian foothills of southeast Ohio. You in all probability know her from one of many books she’s written and illustrated like my favourite, “Saving Jemima: Life and Love With a Arduous Luck Jay,” and apart from being an creator and artist, Julie is a wildlife rehabilitator and a eager gardener, too. I’m glad to welcome her again to the present to commiserate a couple of season that actually threw us each—and what we realized from it and its impression on gardeners, vegetation, and birds and different wildlife.
Plus: Remark within the field close to the underside of the web page for an opportunity to win a duplicate of “Saving Jemima.”
Learn alongside as you hearken to the Dec. 16, 2024 version of my public-radio present and podcast utilizing the participant under. You possibly can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts right here).
a dry 12 months, with julie zickefoose
Margaret Roach: Hello, Julie. How are you?
Julie Zickefoose: Hey, Margaret. It’s so good to not really feel alone in our drought despair.
Margaret: Effectively, yeah, we received to catching up on the telephone the opposite day and the subject rapidly shifted to drought. And earlier than we go there, I simply needed to say, as a result of I consider you as “Hen Girl” [laughter], that two Saturdays in the past, I believe it was lastly chilly sufficient right here within the Hudson Valley of New York to place out my hen feeders. Due to bears, I can’t achieve this in any other case. Feeder season at all times makes me consider you. And do you need to guess like clockwork, who confirmed up first? What species confirmed up first inside about quarter-hour?
Julie: Oh, it’s not a Wilson’s warbler [laughter]?
Margaret: No. Chickadees are those who at all times discover the feeders first right here, the black-capped chickadees. It’s hilarious. They’re just like the little messengers that inform everyone then.
Julie: Yeah. So cute. That position is taken by tufted titmice right here. They’re our policemen [laughter]; they don’t miss a factor, and I like them dearly.
Margaret: Sure. Effectively, and the tuffies, as I like to consider them, the tuffies got here in inside about two minutes and inside 24 hours they have been like 15 species feeding. So it’s like if you happen to construct it, they’ll come. Huh?
Julie: Precisely. And it additionally speaks to the truth that birds are without end watching one another and taking one another’s leads. And once I was doing plenty of rehab, once I’d have a really frightened wild particular person are available in, I might cage it proper subsequent to some long-term purchasers who had everlasting accidents and issues like that. And that hen would quiet down instantly,
Margaret: Take the indicators from the old-timers. Huh.
Julie: If this orchard oriole and this home finch are consuming out of their cups, why I’m going to eat out of a cup, too. Fascinating. Fascinating. It was magic. Yeah. There’s so much to be stated for having position fashions in hen world,
Margaret: So everyone adopted the chickadees right here to the sustenance. And on the opposite finish of issues, if you happen to’re missing in some type of sustenance, like, effectively, a lot of the nation frankly was this final 12 months, and is. There’s plenty of drought in plenty of locations, or abnormally dry circumstances. However I’m sort of a newcomer, and I believe you and I each have been saying that the opposite day on the telephone that we really feel like we’re a bit of little bit of newcomers to drought normally. Is your soil sort of moist sufficient normally to type of get alongside and backyard?
Julie: Oh yeah. We now have a reasonably deep loam right here, sandy loam. And actually the final 5 summers have been moist sufficient that I haven’t needed to pull out the hose a lot; in no way summer time earlier than this final one. And I don’t take it without any consideration whenever you don’t should water; it’s like magic. It’s like gardening should be, proper? Yeah. After which final summer time was simply the heartbreaker. I’m nonetheless heartbroken from it. [Below, a brown thrasher enjoys Julie’s WarblerFall birdbath. More on the WarblerFall here.]
Margaret: Yeah. I believe each of our areas, like I stated, you’re in southeast Ohio and I’m in type of the Hudson Valley of New York, and I believe each of our regular rainfall is within the 40-something inches, 42, 43, 44 inches a 12 months, one thing like that. And we have been down, I believe on this space we have been down 6 or 8 inches under regular at one level, and the previous couple of weeks we’ve began to have some precipitation, nevertheless it’s going to take plenty of time to get again. And the soil was unfamiliar. I imply, the feel of the soil and the way in which the soil simply was like concrete in some locations, like cracking open.
Julie: Sure. Yeah, I had broad cracks open in my yard, and I believe essentially the most surprising factor for me was seeing the streams run dry, and simply taking place within the woods and saying, my God, there’s nothing right here for something to drink. And that simply frightened me. And what little swimming pools remained within the bigger streams can be filled with minnows, simply darting frantically. And you understand that predators have been cleansing these up. So it was very, very arduous. And being an amphibian fan simply to observe every thing simply dry up and with no hope was very troublesome.
Margaret: After I take a look at the U.S. Drought Monitor map [below], and it’s positively improved the final month as a result of as I stated, in some areas like mine, we’ve began to have some rain, however I believe it was possibly 48 of the 50 states. I believe it was solely Alaska and possibly Kentucky or one thing that weren’t color-coded as having some extent of irregular dryness or drought. Are you aware what I imply? It was actually virtually in every single place.
Julie: Sure, I used to be. I used to be completely riveted by drought.gov, which I might go each couple days and say, “Yup, excessive. Oh, transferring on towards distinctive. Nice, great.” My space was proper on the sting of a dark-maroon blob that included Charleston, West Virginia. That was the distinctive drought. We could also be there now. I don’t know. I haven’t had the guts to look because it received chilly, since I’m kidding myself that it’s no longer in a drought, nevertheless it nonetheless is.
Margaret: Yeah. Farmer pals and neighbors—I imply, we’re each in rural areas, and there’s plenty of farmers the place I’m. And so they had crop losses in some instances, or positively under-performance in plenty of their crops. And I imply, I’ve to acknowledge, I pulled out my vegetable begins. After I noticed the stream close by go dry, the brook down the highway, go dry or virtually dry. I simply thought to myself—I’m on a effectively. I’ve a personal effectively as a result of we don’t have public water—and I simply thought to myself, “You realize what, Margaret, you’re not going to run your effectively dry. You’re not going to make use of water for issues apart from essentially the most important.” I’m not going to indulge myself in annuals and greens and so forth. I should purchase these from my farmer neighbors. You realize what I imply? I simply needed to prioritize, to triage, I assume is what I’m attempting to say.
Julie: Sure. Having lived with a shallow effectively in Connecticut, I do know very effectively that math, I’m silly [laughter]. I’ve city water, and I’m additionally actually cussed and giving up my ‘Sugar Snap’ peas was not one thing I used to be able to do. So I watered all summer time lengthy,
Margaret: And I’ve to say that whenever you say ‘Sugar Snap’ peas and the peas and in addition inexperienced beans have been the 2 issues I actually missed essentially the most, as a result of there’s nothing simply pulling these proper off the vine and consuming them barely earlier than you even flip round and stroll a foot. You realize what I imply?
Julie: Precisely.
Margaret: They’re simply so fabulous. Yeah, so animals, so we are able to speak a bit of bit extra about methods for subsequent time round and so forth later, however animal-wise, you stated you’re an amphibian lover as I’m a frog nut and particularly, and plenty of salamanders round right here and so forth. And I’ve a few in-ground decent-sized swimming pools that I made years in the past that I maintain water out there year-round to everyone, however had I bear in mind, I believe it was on Instagram or in your weblog, I can’t bear in mind, possibly each. A few of the type of ruts within the highway [top of page and below], virtually like they ended up having I believe, tadpoles in them. Is that proper? Am I making that up?
Julie: I had three species: mountain refrain frog, which is a regional specialty; Cope’s grey tree frog; and American toad. No, I don’t suppose I truly wound up succeeding with American toad, however these two species have been in there in nice numbers and like a moron, I dedicated to holding the water within the puddles. I had no thought, in fact, that it could be an historic drought.
Margaret: Proper.
Julie: So in June, when it stopped raining on the finish of Might… and in June, I began hauling water with 5-gallon jugs utilizing my tractor with a bit of trailer behind it, my garden tractor. I began hauling water, and by the top of August, I used to be placing 40 gallons in each different day.
Margaret: Oh my.
Julie: Oh my God. You don’t have any thought what that does to your again.
Margaret: Yeah. Effectively, I imply, I’m simply visualizing.
Julie: Lifting these issues. I received sensible. I labored smarter. I crammed them with the hose whereas they have been within the trailer, so I wouldn’t be lifting a loaded
Margaret: Proper. One much less carry. Proper, proper.
Julie: Precisely. After which I may tip them from the trailer into the puddle, nevertheless it was nonetheless terrible, and I simply wouldn’t quit as a result of I’d had such poor success attempting to lift them in containers. Effectively, by the top of August, I stated, that is silly; that is ridiculous. So I made some palatial containers for them with dwell vegetation and silt on the underside and introduced them as much as the home and began attempting to rear ’em, they usually did so much higher.
However what hit me was that it had been 11 weeks and these items had not metamorphosed, which is irregular. So I knew that they weren’t getting some stimulus from the setting to inform them it’s secure to go.
Margaret: Proper. It’s secure to resorb or soak up that tail and get legs and stuff like that.
Julie: So whether or not it’s raindrops sluicing into the puddle, whether or not it’s one thing within the temperature, I don’t know what it’s, however they weren’t getting that sign. So I stated to myself, I may very well be doing this into the winter. I don’t know. I threw up the white flag and I took them to a beaver pond close by, and I simply stated, “You guys are by yourself. I can’t do that anymore.” And I used to be simply on the market and I checked out that puddle, which has fashioned since we received 0.7 inches of rain final evening, and I’m going to fill it in, in any other case my silly coronary heart will make me try this once more.
Margaret: As a result of in an abnormally dry scenario, an animal like a feminine amphibian goes to search for any quantity of water to put her eggs in. So that you’re going to finish up with a repeat of the scenario.
Julie: Sure. And it’ll be mine to fret about. She’s danced again off into the forest and gone into estivation, and I’m elevating her infants [laughter].
Margaret: Proper, proper, proper.
Julie: It’s not proper.
Margaret: What’s mistaken with this image?
Julie: Proper, proper. What’s mistaken with this image is I’m an fool. The opposite factor that occurred was the deer keyed into that puddle, they usually have been those who drank it dry in two days.
Margaret: Oh! So it turned a watering gap.
Julie: Oh, precisely. It was the one watering gap on my ridge. They have been taking 40 gallons each two days, and what I wound up doing was placing out nice large tubs of water in my yard for the deer. It hit me that they have been both going to have to depart the realm or they have been going to die, and I didn’t need that to occur. So now I’ve deer who come nonetheless each day and each evening to those tubs that I’m holding out for them, and now I’m going to place heaters within the tubs as a result of there’s nonetheless no water on the market for them.
Margaret: And we must always clarify to folks, you reside on a protect sort of, I imply, it’s a sanctuary, a personal sanctuary. So it’s not a traditional yard the place oh my goodness, to have deer would imply no backyard in any respect. It’s a very completely different kind of setting, and so deer are a part of the ecosystem and so forth, so that you’re not utterly nutty.
Julie: Effectively, I’m a nut, and the deer are starting, those which have gotten very tamed for the reason that drought have begun, they ate my asparagus. Who knew they might?
Margaret: Effectively, they do habituate, too. If we give them an inch, they take a mile. They definitely do habituate. That’s proper.
Julie: That’s precisely proper. So I’m sort of watching it proper now. It’s simply these three, the mom and her two fawns, and she or he had introduced her fawns final 12 months. So I get hooked up. I like ’em. I dig these animals, and I don’t need ’em to endure. I don’t need any animal to endure, so I do supply them water.
Margaret: Yeah. So did you additionally see, I believe together with your bluebirds you additionally noticed some impression. I imply, clearly there was impression of the drought on everyone, each dwelling creature, plant or animal. However what about with the bluebirds? As a result of I imply, you’ve written books about bluebirds; bluebirds have been virtually like a signature of your work for a very long time. So what about them?
Julie: Effectively, this was loopy. I went into this anticipating it to be an terrible 12 months for bluebirds, as a result of by my magic logic, if there no rain, there have been no bugs.
Margaret: Proper. No bugs for them to feed the guardian to eat or to feed to the infants. Yeah,
Julie: Proper. That’s what I used to be pondering. I used to be pondering, that is going to be a crash. And what occurred was that they had a banner 12 months, and I’ve been dissecting the info and it, and right here’s what’s loopy. Out of 28 clutches of eggs laid in my bins, 10 of them have been five-egg clutches, which is a a lot greater proportion of five-egg clutches than I normally get. I normally get four-egg clutches right here. So first off, they have been laying extra eggs. However then they raised extra infants efficiently. And so I had 106 bluebirds hatch in 15 bins in 2024, and I attempted to get round and intercourse the infants, decide the intercourse by the colour of their plumage, however I used to be touring a bit, so I didn’t get to all of them. However of the 74 nestlings that I used to be right here to intercourse in 2024, I received 51 females to 23 males.
Margaret: Oh. Women rule! [Laughter.]
Julie: Yeah, ladies rule. So females comprised 69 % of all of the nestlings. So I’ve received to suppose for the reason that intercourse ratio is normally practically even in my birds, that the drought had one thing to do with it. It was the one apparent anomaly. So yeah, it was sizzling this summer time, however ambient temperature hasn’t been proven to find out the intercourse of any hen embryo, besides these of the Australian malleefowl, which lays its eggs in rotting compost.
Margaret: And also you don’t have in Ohio that hen [laughter].
Julie: Yeah, yeah. I haven’t seen a malleefowl recently. So right here’s this loopy factor. There’s this intercourse allocation concept that was developed by Trivers and Willard in 1973. It’s usually introduced to clarify excessive intercourse ratio deviations. And by this concept, a feminine of no matter organism goes to, if she is in poor situation, she’s going to profit from producing extra feminine offspring. And that’s as a result of feminine offspring, even low-quality feminine offspring, are more likely to achieve success in acquiring mates than would low-quality males. So producing females would characterize an even bigger health achieve to the mom. So we don’t know by what mechanism intercourse in hen eggs is set, and it doesn’t actually jive with my findings, as a result of a feminine bluebird in poor situation isn’t going to put 5 eggs.
Margaret: Proper. So possibly extra females, however no more eggs.
Julie: Possibly extra females, however no more eggs. Proper. After I take into consideration this, what I’ve sort of settled on is nearly all of my bluebird bins are on the sting of hayfields.
And when the hay is minimize, and the grass is brief, they’ll see crickets and grasshoppers and spiders, they usually can hear them rattle. As quickly because the hay will get excessive and thick, they cease nesting in these bins as a result of they now not have foraging habitat. Then when the hay is minimize once more, they’ll forage there. Now, this 12 months, the hay was so poor and skinny that they may see the crickets and grasshoppers even when the hay was excessive. So that they continued nesting in these hayfields, whereas they usually must cease.
Margaret: Alright. In order that was the opposite variable. That was the opposite distinction. I see.
Julie: Proper. So no rain meant skinny hay meant bluebirds. We’re like, “Hey, the grass is lengthy, however I can nonetheless see the bottom.”
Margaret: Proper. And I may discover my prey, proper, and feed my infants and myself.
Julie: That’s proper. So I had triple-brooding, whereas usually they might get one or possibly two broods they usually’d be completed. So I had triple-brooding, bigger clutches, extra eggs, and weirdly extra far more females than males.
Margaret: And I assume for me, this story is—and clearly you’re an entire hen nerd [laughter] and plenty of folks listening… However that is the factor about, as I’ve been saying lately since I learn a e-book known as “Sluggish Birding” by Joan Strassman a few years in the past, is that within the phrase hen watching, we have to emphasize the watching. Proper? The watching, as a result of what you’re doing is basically observing. You’re not simply naming, oh, it’s this species, it’s that species. Test, test, test. You’re actually watching. You actually know these birds, and also you’re doing all of your homework.
Julie: You’re dwelling with them, and also you’re transferring via their reproductive biology with them, their phenology, the onset, the top. You’re there for every thing whenever you run bluebird bins. You realize what’s happening, and that’s so invaluable about that, is that you just get an intimate take a look at their each day life that you may not get some other approach.
Margaret: So I need to make sure that we now have time to type of double again from our animal neighbors and companions to, as gardeners, what this was like. And as a type of a transition, I assume I believe it’s key for everybody to have water out there three hundred and sixty five days a 12 months. You have been simply saying you’re going to maintain your buckets or cattle tanks or no matter they’re for the deer, you’re going to maintain them defrosted, so to talk, de-iced. I believe that’s a extremely necessary level for each gardener to have entry to water for all of the creatures of the backyard.
However so far as vegetation, and I stated I pulled out my greens and so forth. Are you going to do something in a different way after operating round a maniac watering like loopy this final 12 months? Was there any resolve or no matter? [Laughter.] Yeah, as a result of actually pondering frankly of, I’d actually wish to have a number of issues, like we talked concerning the peas and so forth, and I’d actually wish to have some salad greens and a few herbs. I’m pondering of placing some manageable-sized containers close to the home, the place I can handle it.
Julie: I believe that’s good. If the drought forces us all to dwell like we simply have an house balcony to backyard then that’s what would possibly must occur. Being, as I’ve talked about, sort of gradual, I’m truly going to redo my large raised backyard mattress this winter, and lift the perimeters, make the soil deeper, and simply mulch like loopy so I don’t should cope with weeds.
I’ve stop utilizing straw mulch as a result of all it’s is seeds, only a nightmare. Within the spring final 12 months, I used big sheets of cardboard and newspaper, and I lined each floor that didn’t have a plant in it. I actually minimize a gap for the plant and I might water immediately into these holes. I believe I saved plenty of water that approach simply by heavy, heavy, heavy mulching, and I intend to try this once more subsequent 12 months.
Margaret: Yeah, I positively, I imply, I see footage on-line and no matter, I see footage of virtually like large window bins on legs like footed, you understand what I imply, the containers which can be on a stand. It’s like a bookshelf, however as an alternative of a shelf on high, it’s a field. Sure. And I’m type of pondering, O.Okay., sure issues, that’s all of the area they want. I imply, I’m speaking a couple of good dimension, not 2 ft, however an even bigger, longer one. I imply, that’s manageable, and if it’s deep as you’re declaring, you’re going to even deepen your in-ground beds in order that it has sufficient insulation and may maintain sufficient moisture. Yeah. I believe that type of is interesting to me in the intervening time.
Julie: I believe it’s good, and I’ve by no means grown lettuce in something however containers as a result of it water necessities are just too excessive. If I can maintain it moist by rising it on my entrance porch and water it with wastewater from the tap, it’s going to do nice with the added bonus that if I elevate it, the rabbits can’t get it.
Margaret: Proper, and also you simply stated wastewater from the tap, so whenever you first activate the water, say you’re going to scrub your dishes or one thing, there’s plenty of misplaced water ready for the recent to come back on. Proper. Are you saving that?
Julie: I’ve a 2-1/2-gallon watering can by each single faucet in the home, and I at all times run the startup water into the can, and you wouldn’t consider it provides me sufficient water to water my greenhouse after which some. So I truly don’t run water to water my greenhouse. I simply use startup water. Yeah.
Margaret: So you’ve gotten a can close to every. That’s an excellent thought. Close to every sink. Yeah.
Julie: Yeah. It drove my late husband nuts. He was without end operating into the cans, tripping over them, cursing, taking them, and I step round them. I do know they’re there [laughter].
Margaret: Proper. I’ll fill one thing, no matter vessel is nearest to the sink once I first activate the dishes, then I’ll go water a home plant proper then with it, just like the tea kettle.
Julie: Generally a spaghetti pot, no matter’s there.
Margaret: I simply needed to say the opposite factor that we now have in frequent, apart from attempting to determine our approach via going through potential dry seasons that could be to come back, we’re each on a tirade in opposition to woody invasives, sure? Is that your different large precedence in the intervening time, as a result of that’s been mine?
Julie: [Laughter.] Yeah. I make these large eagle nests of invasive carcasses throughout my place, and that’s truly my, I name it cross-training. I do all of it winter lengthy. I’m going out with my electrical chainsaw and minimize autumn olive, Japanese honeysuckle, Amur honeysuckle, privet, multiflora rose, and I’m truly profitable, Margaret. I’m profitable. And it’s unbelievable to see dogwoods that you just’ve peeled off multiflora rose and Japanese honeysuckle, they usually have these big deep scars of their trunks, they usually bloom they usually say, thanks, thanks, thanks. It’s so great. [At right in the above photo, one brushpile of invasive debris at Julie’s.]
Margaret: So that you’re rescuing the native woody vegetation by taking away all these invaders.
Julie: Proper.
Margaret: Yeah. Effectively, I’m at all times glad to speak to you, Hen Girl [laughter]. Thanks, and once more, thanks particularly on your reminder together with your anecdote concerning the bluebird and the replica this 12 months, the variations to actually watch that we are able to look extra carefully. I believe that’s what it’s all about, actually.
Julie: Sure, that and making ready to be shocked.
Margaret: Ah, sure.
Julie: Simply holding your thoughts utterly open and say, “Wait, why did we now have a banner 12 months? What was happening right here?”
Margaret: Sure.
Julie: Yeah. Making ready to be shocked, I believe is nice.
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MY WEEKLY public-radio present, rated a “top-5 backyard podcast” by “The Guardian” newspaper within the UK, started its fifteenth 12 months in March 2024. It’s produced at Robin Hood Radio, the smallest NPR station within the nation. Pay attention domestically within the Hudson Valley (NY)-Berkshires (MA)-Litchfield Hills (CT) Mondays at 8:30 AM Japanese, rerun at 8:30 Saturdays. Or play the Dec. 16, 2024 present utilizing the participant close to the highest of this transcript. You possibly can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts right here).