"For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed nature and the outdoors," says Delaware Audubon board member Ellen Wright. "I have always liked to go camping and hiking." She says that for three summers when she was in high school, she was a camp counselor.

"When I lived in my townhouse I became interested in landscaping for wildlife," Ellen adds. "Increasing the wildlife that visited my tiny townhouse property was fun and rewarding. One day I came home from work and my neighbor asked me if the box turtle in her front yard was mine. She ended up taking the turtle back down near the creek close to our homes and letting it go. Another day the same neighbor excitedly told me as soon as I got home from work that there were canaries on the sunflowers in my backyard. The canaries were goldfinches but she and her young son were enjoying watching them."

"The neighbor across the street was on the phone one day and the person she was talking with said, I hear birds singing. My neighbor replied, 'oh that's coming from the property across the street.' I really wanted to have more property to landscape for wildlife. The day I went to look at the property where I live now I was sitting in the dining room talking with the realtor and a male cardinal flew up on the steps outside the dining room. I decided that was a sign that I should purchase the property and I did. After purchasing this property where I could keep my horses, and have room to landscape for wildlife, I put my townhouse property up for sale. During an open house there was a male cardinal singing in the roses. With each year the wildlife I attract to my property gets more varied."

Ellen says she is interested in all aspects of preserving and improving our environment, but she especially enjoys wildlife landscaping. Ellen is secretary of the Delaware Audubon Society.

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This page was last updated on May 28, 2005.