I am an amateur naturalist - plant enthusiast, birder, author of a book on wildlife gardening (1993), and will post observations (and hopefully sounds) from my almost-an-acre wooded property near the Little Tchefuncte River in Covington, LA. Since we moved here in 2010, I have been restoring the native habitat, with the goal of providing homes for all forms of wildlife being displaced by nearby suburban spread. My yard is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a Wildlife Habitat and is a pollinator habitat per Xerces Society criteria.

Overstory species in my woods: beech, Southern and sweetbay magnolia, mockernut hickory, sweetgum, blackgum, shumard oak, white oak, water oak, loblolly & spruce pine. Natural plant community for my site: Hardwood Slope Forest? (http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/fact_sheet_community/32364-Hardwood%20Slope%20Forest/hardwood_slope_forest.pdf). I have removed many non-native invasive plant species, continue the battle against others.

I maintain the native canebrake (Arundinaria gigantea) that forms one edge of our property and I am growing a prairie/ savanna of native plants maintained by mowing/ burns as allowed instead of a lawn out front. I have left the rotting logs from trees that fell during Hurricane Katrina (2005) in the woods and see several species of woodpeckers and owls. There is a small pond in front of the house- and many amphibians. I hope for assist in identifying their calls.