The Parkland Garden Club held its first meeting of the new year 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at the club’s new location at St. John’s United Church of Christ, 1027 Church St., Fogelsville.

This will be the new location for meetings.

The site location was changed to accommodate the growing number of members and previous space constraints.

The meeting opened with a welcome from the board to the new site and a small celebration with cake and snacks, all to commemorate the site relocation.

The topic of the night’s presentation was “Natural Wildlife Habitat” and focused on creating a habitat for local birds.

The presenter was Matt Worthington, manager of Wild Birds Unlimited In Allentown.

His focus was on songbirds and feeders but several different types of birds were discussed.

Worthington also discussed varying food types for certain species of birds.

Ways and steps to create a habitat for birds and for certification for your backyard as a bird wildlife habitat were presented.

Worthington said the loss of grasslands and the increase of pollution has killed one in four songbirds since the 1970s; however, waterfowl and raptors have been steadily increasing.

Lawns treated for weeds kill the clover, which is a food source for songbirds as well.

The components of providing a habitat include food, water, cover and places to raise their young, according to Worthington.

He encouraged sustainable practices like growing flowers and seeds as natural nourishment.

Worthington listed natural food sources as Safflower for cardinals, Black Eyed Susan, Rubidecko and Echinacea.

He discussed cleaning the birdhouses with copper and a few drops of Isopropyl alcohol to contaminate and purge viruses, bacteria and diseases that can breed and live inside the houses.

Worthington said a sunflower seed base is a good food source for hummingbirds as is sugar and water, (4 cups water and 1 cup sugar mixture).

He also said most birds are residents of Pennsylvania and they migrate not because of the cold, but for food.

Pictures were then shared of various types of birds in his PowerPoint presentation.

He said through natural interbreeding of Carolina and Black capped Chickadees, a new song voice developed.

After the presentation, the club announced the winners of the Parkland Garden Club’s yearly photo contest.

Members submit their photos of scenery, flowers, insects, etc., and Dan’s Camera advises and helps select the category winners.

All the winners receive a gift certificate from Dan’s Camera shop.

A seed starting workshop was held in January at a member’s house and was well attended.

Pictures were shared of the plantings.

A future event includes a trip to the Lancaster area to shop for spring garden supplies.

The club is celebrating the 250 birthday of our country with the Star Spangled Garden Tour to be held July 11. More details to come.