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| Title | The Spoonbill, Vol. 43, No. 10, October 1994 |
| Contributor (Local) |
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| Publisher | Outdoor Nature Club |
| Date | October 1994 |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Location | ID 2007-023, Box 12, Folder 15 |
| ArchivesSpace URI | /repositories/2/archival_objects/9879 |
| Original Collection | Outdoor Nature Club Records |
| Digital Collection | Outdoor Nature Club Newsletters |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/2007_023 |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/special-collections/ |
| Use and Reproduction | In Copyright |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | Image 10 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | uhlib_2007_023_b012_f015_009_010.jpg |
| Transcript | Birdwatching teacher halts mowing of nesting area BY DAVID BENSON A fledgling birdwatcher's quick thinking may change the way Pasadena enforces mowing requirements for vacant lots. Billie Clary's only been "birding," as it's called by enthusiasts, for about 18 months, but it didn't take the Queens Intermediate School teacher long to determine what was happening when dozens of birds took to the sky behind her house. "It looked like a scene out of the movie The Birds," Clary said. "They were just flying around, going crazy...and when the tractor went past they were flying back to what used to be their nests." The tractor was mowing about 10 acres behind Clary's home in southeast Pasadena to comply with city rules about keeping grass and weeds short enough to discourage rats and other vermin. Unfortunately, the 10 acres had already been homesteaded by scores of birds- egrets, herons, Blue Jays, Cardinals and others... Her feathers ruffled, Clary...called the city and got Chief Health Inspector John Benson, who called for a stop to the mowing. Clary is now to get a nest count and list of nesting species together for city officials, and Benson said the lot behind her house is to remain half-mowed. Benson said Monday that the city is likely to suspend mowing requirements until July—the nesting season's end—on lots where birds are obvious tenants. "We recognize Pasadena being a bird sanctuary, so we not only want to respect that, we don't want to hurt any endangered species," the health inspector said. Clary, meanwhile, was concerned about her image. Confessing that she buys birdseed in 100-lb lots, the junior-high computer instructor worried that her bird- saving efforts may get her marked as a...well, she said it. "I just don't want people to think I'm a quack." [Billie Clary has been a member of the OG since 1993. This article appeared in the Pasadena Citizen on May 2, 1994. Billie wrote that "Chief Benson called the paper with the story and said he would try to get the city ordinance changed so that mowing would be done before the end of March and suspended until mid-July. ...John Benson, ChiefHealth Inspector for the City of Pasadena, should be recognized for his immediate and positive response to saving the nesting sites for the birds. "Ed] Houston Outdoor Nature Club ORNITHOLOGY GROUP P. 0. Box 270894 Houston, Texas 77277-0894 SOLICITED MAIL TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL DO NOT DELAY Nonprofit Org U.S. Postage PAID Houston, Texas Permit No. 1063 Printed on 100% Recycled Paper |