Visit Buckhead Gardens Designed as Wildlife Habitat

Meet Georgia Authors Charles Seabrook and John Yow

AAS Hosts 9th Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Tour

Date and time: Saturday, September 11, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Even in-town gardens can feed and shelter native wildlife. Four private gardens and one nature preserve in Buckhead and Sandy Springs show visitors how to cultivate their own yards as critical habitat for native species during this year’s Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Tour, hosted by the Atlanta Audubon Society.

The Sanctuary Tour and Program are designed to encourage residential homeowners and homeowners' associations, business park owners/managers, and golf course owners/managers to become involved in the preservation of native plants and habitat for wildlife.

Tickets: You are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance!

• Advance $12. Call the AAS office at 678/973-2437 and pay by credit card.

Available until noon on September 1.

• Day-of-tour: $15 at sites #1 (570 Valley Lane) and #5 (3003 Howell Mill Road).

Free Admission

• Free admission for those who sign up as AAS members on tour date!

• Children under 12 admitted free with adults.

Special Features

At site #3, Home of Atlanta Audubon Society, the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, 4055 Roswell Road,North Buckhead

• From 10:00 am to noon, award-winning nature writer Charles Seabrook will sign his book Cumberland Island: Strong Women, Wild Horses and discuss his upcoming book about the ecology of the Georgia coast to be published later this year.

• From 1:00 to 3:00 pm, John Yow will sign his funny and informative 2009 book The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds.

• In addition, the Georgia Native Plant Society will sell native plants, perfect food sources for native wildlife. Also,refreshments, AAS t-shirts, and other logo merchandise will be available for purchase throughout tour hours. Children’s activities will be held at noon.

For more information on the Wildlife Sanctuary Program, go to

http://atlantaaudubon.org/aaswww/conservation/sanctuary.htm.

View photographs of each garden at www.atlantaaudubon.org and on our Facebook page.

For a map of the tour and directions to the sites, go to www.atlantaaudubon.org. Large text directions are

available.

What is a Wildlife Sanctuary?

The four essential components of a wildlife sanctuary are:

• Shelter: Active nesting areas or shelters that attract and protect birds and other wildlife.

• Food: Feeders and plantings that offer seeds, flowers, and berries to wildlife.

• Water: Birdbaths, water gardens, or natural features with flowing water.

• Nesting Sites: Bird boxes, natural cavities, or wood piles and vine tangles.

The public is invited to visit these certified wildlife sanctuaries:

#1. Home of Thaea Lloyd and Robert Harville, 570 Valley Lane, Sandy Springs

#2. Home of Celia and Don Gilner, 4867 Northland Drive, Buckhead

#3. Home of Atlanta Audubon Society, Blue Heron Nature Preserve, 4055 Roswell Road, North Buckhead

#4. Home of Lisa Frank, 4108 Haverhill Drive, North Buckhead

#5. Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3003 Howell Mill Road, Buckhead

The Atlanta Audubon Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Georgia’s birds and the habitats that sustain them through education, conservation and advocacy.