Coastal Journal: Back to nature with a little 'green time'

“Quality time” is the mantra for time well spent with kids and grandkids.

“Green time” is now a subheading for that mantra.

Susan Wenzel, executive director of Back Bay Restoration Foundation, touted the importance of green time, in her latest foundation newsletter. Turn off all the electronic devices and focus on the natural world, Wenzel urged.

The idea of spending green time with children is a new initiative of the National Wildlife Federation, Wenzel noted. For the federation’s take, visit www.greenhour.org.

Wenzel also quoted Richard Louv , author of “Last Child in the Woods.” He says children are suffering from “nature deficit disorder.”

But Wenzel and husband, Tim, don’t need books and Web sites to find ways of spending green time with their kids. Environmental activities have long been a part of time spent with Rachel and Allison Wenzel . The girls are in the eighth- and third-grade, respectively, at St. John’s Catholic school.

Among the simplest green times is at their Red Mill home where they fill bird feeders with a “smorgasbord of food,” said Wenzel, and watch wildlife activity around the feeders. Rachel and Allison even have their own green time project for the birds. They raise mealworms in the garage and are rewarded by seeing a hungry wren wait each day for its handout.

The family will also parti-cipate in the Great Backyard Bird count starting Friday and running through Feb. 16 . A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, the bird count is for everybody, from beginning bird watchers to experts.

All you need to do is count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as you wish) on one or more days of the event. Sightings can be reported online at www.birdsource.org/gbbc/, where you also can find out more about the bird count.

One of the Wenzel family’s favorite outdoor activities is geocaching, a game of hiding and seeking treasure. Handheld Global Positioning System units are used to find treasure hidden by other geocachers. Visit www.geocaching.com/about .

They also often go farther afield and hike the trails at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, or head down to the Knotts Island Causeway to see snow geese and tundra swan. .

Other good places to visit include First Landing State Park, Norfolk Botanical Garden, Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve in Portsmouth, Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge in Suffolk, or Northwest River Park in Chesapeake.

 Mary Reid Barrow, barrow1@cox.net

READERS' CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

A red-tailed hawk surveys the land for dinner near Lake Meade in Suffolk.  (Photo by Chris Witherspoon)

Marine Mammals Humpback whales, breaching and lob-tailing, performed for Virginia Aquarium whale watch boat trips last week. Bottlenose dolphins also were sighted.

Mary Warren Pinnell saw a group of dolphins “plowing through the ocean” close to shore near Rudee Inlet.

Popular Thistle Socks Lynne Lindsay in Little Neck said she had seen as many as 18-19 goldfinches on each of her two thistle socks. The thistle that falls to the ground is eaten by white-throated sparrows, Lindsay said.

Ernie Fudala sent photos of dozens of goldfinches feeding on thistle socks in his Brookfield Crossing yard

Uncommon Visitors Eric and Ethel Norfleet sent colorful photos of the painted buntings that have been hanging out at MSA off Witchduck Road this winter.

Vicki Dixon said a male painted bunting visiting her Knotts Island yard for the second winter is still around.

Kathy Loomis reports from Kings Grant that she has seen pine siskins dining on her sunflower and thistle seeds and both pine and orange-crowned warblers at her suet feeder.

Eagle Sightings Kim Ellis in Great Neck heard bald eagles calling from above the treetops recently. She looked up and saw “two magnificent bald eagles soaring in very wide circles… . It was truly a treat and sight to behold!” Ellis said.

Two adult bald eagles and a juvenile were feeding on a dead deer in a field off Shillelagh Road recently, said Anna Harris , who lives in Foxwood North in Chesapeake. We sometimes forget that our national symbol can be a downright scavenger. Harris also noted that she and others had been seeing coyotes in the Foxwood North area.

Waterfowl Viewing After the December column on visiting places to view waterfowl, Ernie Fudala went to the Knotts Island Causeway in North Carolina to see snow geese and swan. “WOW! Amazing!” Fudala said. While there, he also saw a northern harrier, northern shovelers and hooded mergansers.

Judy Rudacille, who lives in Haygood Point, saw a flock of common mergansers on Lake Smith recently. It was the first time Rudacille had seen these ducks that usually frequent more open water.

More Sightings Kathy Hollowood saw a red-breasted nuthatch in her yard in Indian Lakes. Barbara Zimmer has been seeing pileated woodpeckers on a tree near Lake Whitehurst.

Photo Ops

-Chris Witherspoon photographed a red-tailed hawk in a tree in her yard on Lake Meade in Suffolk.

- Robert Preston sent a photo of a kestrel, a small brightly colored falcon, perched on windowsill at his Level Green home. Kestrels are more often seen in open areas, perhaps perched on telephone wires.

-Vicki Dixon sent beautiful photos of a Coopers hawk eyeing her bird feeder on Knotts Island.

UPLOAD YOUR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SNAPSHOTS

What surprises or puzzles have you come across in nature, or do you have a tidbit of local lore? Send e-mail to barrow1@cox.net. Include name, neighborhood and city. If you have injured wildlife, call the Virginia Beach SPCA, (757) 427-0070.