Creating a bird-friendly yard

Ever wonder why only the same half-dozen birds show up in your yard? Wish you could attract more?

 Birding expert and author Sharon Sorenson will visit the John James Audubon State Park Museum theater on Feb. 8, at 2 p.m. to answer these and many more questions about creating a bird-friendly yard at your home. Sorenson is a lifelong resident of Evansville, Indiana, and writes a column for the Evansville Courier & Press called “For the Birds.”

 She is also the author of “Birds in the Yard,” a book on creating a backyard bird habitat. The book is illustrated with over 300 photographs by Sorenson and her photographer husband, Charles Sorenson, and takes the reader through the year focusing on each month’s potential bird visitors.

 Bring your questions on birds, bird feeding and habitat. Copies of Sorenson’s book will be available for sale in the museum gift shop. The event is free.

 For more information contact the museum or Alan Gehret, curator of collections, at 270 827-1893.

 John James Audubon State Park is the site where Audubon studied and painted birds from 1810-1819. The park is equipped with cottages and a campground, and offers many recreational opportunities, including a nine-hole golf course, six miles of hiking trails, fishing and more. It also has a museum and nature center that interprets Audubon’s life through a collection of his paintings and memorabilia. For more information, visit www.parks.ky.gov