My love for nature started in my backyard. Seven years ago, we traded a downtown Chicago condo for a suburban home in San Antonio. It was my first home with a yard in 15 years. Our new home backed up to a greenbelt making it feel like the edge of the forest. I started seeing deer passing by and birds visiting the bird bath in our backyard. I dreamed up plans for growing flowers in the new-to-me Texas climate. I have always loved flower gardening and even had a container garden on our rooftop in Chicago. However, my sole criteria for picking flowers was how pretty they looked! I knew very little about the actual flowers I used.
While I have always loved being in nature. I realize now that I wasn’t fully experiencing it. I took for granted what I saw in front me – “Oh that’s a pretty little bird” or “I love those red flowers blooming in my neighbor’s yard.” I knew nature at a superficial level. Having my own backyard started to change that. I owe it to the birds! First was the pocket guide of Central Texas birds that I picked up at HEB on a whim. Next came a pair of binoculars. There was a new marking made in the guide every time I successfully identified a bird visiting our bird bath. The floodgates had been opened, and I yearned to learn more!
We started visiting as many state and national parks as we could with our daughters (ages 9 and 11) – adding Big Bend, Grand Canyon, Saguaro, Yosemite and more to our list in the last few years. I found myself checking out nature books at the library for the first time – with titles ranging from “The Genius of Birds” to “Forest Bathing”. When I saw a listing for the Alamo Area Master Naturalist Training Class 45, I thought it must be fate! I couldn’t believe I could go back to “school” just to learn about nature. I soaked up every topic and realized there was no going back. I was going to be spending the rest of my life learning.
Of all the topics we covered as part of the Master Naturalist training, I was especially drawn to native plants. This was a concept that was foreign to me previously. The thought that I could garden not just for fun but to help the environment (and especially the birds!) felt so empowering. Since then I have been on a mission to transform our yard with native plants. Countless nandina and a ligustrum tree have been replaced with natives. A native wildflower garden is going in along the greenbelt, and I have plans to replace a big swath of grass with more plants this year. During the week you can find me tending to native plants at the Headwaters Sanctuary or AAMN Demonstration Garden.
I’ve even started a website called Native Backyards to help spread the word about the power of native plants to other newbies like me. The birds are already starting to take notice of my efforts. My backyard has become a popular meeting spot for feathered friends. Last Sunday morning as I sat out on our patio with my husband and daughters, we counted no fewer than 15 Cedar Waxwings, 3 American Robins, 3 Carolina Wrens, 2 Black Crested Titmice, 2 Carolina Chickadees, 2 Northern Cardinals and 1 Lesser Goldfinch. At least I think it was a Lesser Goldfinch… I’m still learning after all!
Texas Master Naturalist, Haeley Giambalvo (AAMN Class 45) is currently the Media & Technology Director for the Alamo Area Chapter.
