Habitat Hero – March 2022

Larry and Margarette Jennings

Our first Habitat Hero award in 2022 goes to Larry Jennings (a CCC board member) and his wife Margarette. They moved into their home on Woodland Circle in late 2013 and got started on the landscape right away.   They have removed about 50% of the existing lawn and have replaced it with over 35 species of native bushes and trees and another 100 species of pollinator friendly natives (and a few non-native) plants.  Over 2500 new plants since they moved in! They have also removed the invasive plants found on the property and let the edge of the property go “wild”. 

American redstart warbler
In part to their efforts, they have been rewarded with many wonderful birds that go beyond the usual backyard birds.  Some of the less common ones they have attracted are bluebirds, thrushes including hermit thrush last week, towhees, cedar waxwings, Cooper’s, red-tailed, red-shouldered, and sharp-shinned hawks, pileated, red-bellied, and downy woodpeckers, great crested flycatchers, eastern phoebe, eastern pewee, brown creeper, red breasted nuthatch, Carolina and house wrens nesting, kinglets and blue-gray gnatcatcher, brown thrasher, catbird, yellow-rumped, American redstart, black and white, and pine warblers and rose breasted grosbeak—just to name a few! 

Yellow-rumped warbler
In addition to removing invasive plants and stocking their yard full of native plants, they capture all the rainwater on their property, use zero chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides, use the leaves on the property as natural mulch, and mow high (4”).  In addition to all the work Larry does on his own property to create habitat, increase biodiversity and generate a healthy ecosystem he is an active member of CSC Garden Club and Goshen Farm. 
At Goshen Farm, Larry installed and cares for a beautiful pollinator garden that attracts many beautiful butterflies and beneficial insects and pollinators.  His latest project at Goshen Farm was to surround their vernal pond excavation to a permanent shallow water pond, with native wildlife habitat attracting water-borne insects to dragonflies and a full range of pollinators, to frogs, turtles and snakes and onto birds and raptors. Any given day the frogs are calling, the dragonflies dipping and perching, and the bees are buzzing.  The local honeybees on the property dip in the pond for a refreshing drink on a hot day of pollen gathering.  We thank Larry and Margarette for their efforts in the fight to give nature a place to thrive.