The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Outlook 01 Lifestyle OUTLOOK Friday March 17- Page birds to feed more often Garden Gossip When the mild weather of a fort night ago yielded abruptly to a harsh winter resurgence birds in their multitudes returned to my backyard feeders Over the past two weeks more seed been consumed by the finch nocks than at any other two week period during the winter In put this is due to the cold the birds need more food to maintain their body temperatures The amount be ing eaten now however significantly exceeds that which has been con turned during similar cold spells this winter despite the fact that bird numbers have remained relatively constant over the past two months This increased uptake of food may be a rcsponce Red polls will soon leave on a journey that may take them as much as or kilometres north to the tundra of Greenland and Canadas arctic Pine Siskins will head towards the pine and spruce forests of boreal Canada jaunl than that of the Redpoll but strenuous one nonetheless It may be that these birds inslinclnely bolster Ihcir fat reserves embarking on their taxing northward frenzy around my feeders specially the nlger feeder has reached a fever pitch Finches com pete aggressively or perches at limes even landing on a companion back to take over a perch These finch battles take place almost ex within species for a definite and seemingly Immutable pecking order exists within species Of the three small finches that fre quent winter feeders Redpolls Siskins and GoldIn are low man on the totem pole yield quickly and passively to the perch demands of their two nor them cousins Because of this Goldfinches have been almost en displaced from the feeder that 5500 damage A left turn onto a private drive off of Trafalgar Road caused an accident in which a total of damage was caused March A Georgetown woman was north bound on Trafalgar Road when she turned left onto a private drive The driver of a car southbound on Trafalgar Road at to kilometres per hour collided with the car that turned In front of him police said The Georgetown woman was charged with failing to yield the rightofway dispenses the desirable seed relegated instead to the black oil sunflower feeder give up their perch without complaint to the slightly larger tun dwellers I had to qualify the last statement with an almost because 1 did observe one Instance when a Siskin refused to give Its perch to a Redpoll The Redpoll in this case however did not press the Definite pecking orders between bird species have probably evolved over the Birds haw likely found It more profitable from an energy conservation standpoint their disputes without If bet species Is the il tan be just the within species Attempted perch snatching by a bird of I In species frequent results in vociferous standoffs If neither par backs down the squabblmfi birds actually make con tact occasionally lo the point grappling In mid air Because of the furcc for feeder perches I now have some misgivings about feeding the birds Not that the displays of disturb me but because the en vironment that precipitates the is not a natural one Feeders provide a concentrated food resource that Is not really paralleled In nature Food sources in nature arc usually for less Irfllod meaning that the birds arc more dispersed and less likely to resort to aggressive behaviour Red polls taking advantage of weed seeds In a field for example tend to spread out because the food resource is spread out The behaviour or birds at feeders reminds me of a National Geographic special on chimpanzees that aired last year In this documentary researchers provided chimps with a concentrated food source of bananas In this natural state chimps eat manly fruit that Is dispersed throughout this habitat Feeding behaviour is generally peaceful This peaceful norm was altered dramatically by the introduction of the banana feeding station The typically sedate feeding habits degenerated Into an orgy of aggression with the more dominant members of the chimp troop hording the lions share of the By MADGE WHITFIELD i Herald Special Con you believe this winter and early spring It may be hard to believe but not hard take EN JOY I da get questions in a sort of round a bout way and a recent one concerns mildew or powdery mildew on roses begonias phlox etc For garden roses you can apply a lime- sulphur dormant spray before growth starts to prevent the mildew starting Another good way In use which is a systemic to control powdery mildew black spot throughout the growing season As a- systemic control it provides a action residual pro tec orbed through bung definitely the time to divide repot or start slips If youve had geraniums Indoors all winter they are probably either becoming huge or leggy Slips or cuttings this time will give you geraniums for outdoor planting Cut actively growing stems three four inches long Just below a node remove the lowest leaves dip the stem in rooting monc and In a sand peat moss and vermiculite or This method can be used start cuttings from begonias ivy and It is a good to a ckir bag new plantings up the rooting If plastic ire used the plants will tidied f thev Ik istiblislud Concert to just help somebody For the oast several months group of local Brampton songwriters musicians and singer have been combining their talents to produce an original record album to raise money for the Peel Memorial Hospital Foundation The album named after its title song Just To Help Somebody wll be released at a concert given by all the participating musicians and singers at the Lester Pearson Theatre on March lSS7at8p m Net proceeds from the concert and from the sales the record album will go to the Peel Memorial Hospital for new Tickets arc for adults and for seniors and and arc available from theatre box office 150 Centra Park Drive Monday to Friday am to J p m Saturday 10 a m to m or by phone at Recording artists include Peel Regional Police County Line Bund Helen Kameka Sharon Leigh Lloyd Wiseman Bill Cruise Mike Chuck Dave Conn ley For further information contact Michael Baldwin at Peel Memorial Hospital Foundation Baby pygmy hippo born at zoo Metro Toronto Zoos continuing commitment conservation efforts has paid off with the birth of a on February i5lh 1987 This represents a signifi cant contribution to the world population of this rare en dangcrcd species ihe father was bom at the National Zoo in Washington on October 1973 and came to the Metro Toronto Zoo on July 1973 Hilda was born at the Basel Zoo in Switzerland on Morch and arrived her present home on September This is her fourth calf NEWS FLASH I I Spring have started to arrive in Abigail the crone gave birth lo a baby on March You can visit Abigail and her newborn in the Malaya Pavilion HALTON ROMAN SCHOOL BOARD FRENCH IMMERSION PROGRAM REGISTRATION PROGRAM The Halton Roman Catholic School Board offers a Middle French Immersion Program to its English language students entering Grade 5 Registration is to take place at the designated school parents wish their child to attend Date Saturday March 28 1 987 Time 900 am to pm Location Holy Cross School 222 Maple Avenue Georgetown For further information please contact Michel S Program Consultant 6326300 WC Hawken QC Chairman C Byrnes Director of Education RENOVATION SPECIAL- WALTECLOWPRORLE Toilet with seat oval basin Econo bath with tub en closure All for one low price PLUMBING SHOWROOM 11 ARMSTRONG AVE GEORGETOWN 8772293