Turkey Feeders at Bear Trace

Several years ago when a flock of wild turkeys showed up at the golf course one morning we were all really excited. An occasional single turkey had been seen on the golf course in the past but never a flock this size.

In an effort to try to entice them to stay and take up residency on the golf course we looked at our habitat and resources for them to thrive. The habitat of the golf course is very adequate for their survival with several movement corridors, native grass corridors, and plenty of trees to roost in for the night. The part we were missing was a good food source so we created some supplemental turkey feeders to provide them with shelled and cracked corn until we could install some food plots for them.

My Visit to Askernish

Twice per year, six R&A Scholars are chosen to work and study one of the most environmentally friendly golf courses on our planet. I was honoured to have been chosen to spend a week at Askernish Golf Club where I learned from three individual and influential forward thinking professionals and that locally sourced seaweed is used as a natural tee and green fertiliser.

Who needs a Toro 5500D when you have cow power?

Christmas Bird Count Dec 14 - Jan 5

From December 14th through January 5th tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in Audubon's annual Christmas Bird Count. For 112 years "Citizen Scientists" have monitored local bird populations and submitted their findings to help in nation wide conservation efforts. To find the date of a Christmas Bird Count near you and/or to register for a count --> CBC Count Date Search. Your local count will occur sometime between December 14th and January 5th. If you have more than one local count, they will probably be conducted on different dates within the Christmas Bird Count season. You can pick the most convenient date, or participate in more than one count.

Want to learn more?

Learn how data from the CBC helps birds.
View results from this year's count or from previous years
Explore the CBC Photo Gallery of birds seen during counts.
Christmas Bird Count printable program overview (in PDF).
Audubon President's letter to CBC volunteers.

Fencing Out Predators in NZ

Imagine the experience of playing golf on a world class championship course, immersed in the natural beauty of a true New Zealand wildlife sanctuary. The ambitious project of the Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary has seen a $2 Million (NZ) ‘Xcluder’ fence installed and the entire course perimeter of five kilometers. The fence stands more than 2 meters tall and has been specially designed to keep out predators like rates, mice, stoats, weasels, hedgehogs, feral cats and possums.

Other initiatives include removal of blackberry and scrub from the course perimeter and the re-planting of around 25,000 native trees. Two hundred mixed color pheasant and a small herd of around 15 fallow deer and a stag are being reared on site, within a deer fenced area.

Discussions are also underway with conservation agencies regarding the eventual release of some endangered species - like kiwi and brown teal - on to the property.