Joel Walsh has been seriously misinformed in his article in Sunday, Feb. 17, edition. In his article on honeysuckle and privet he states the honeysuckle berries are like junk food for birds and small mammals. Well, as far as them wanting the berries, they sure do. As far as being junk food, I think not.
He states they are “high in carbohydrates but lack fats and proteins migratory birds need for long flights.” Wow, so we should start serving barbecue and steak to the Hogeye Marathon runners then, huh? No, those runners and our migratory birds on stopover need a high water-content, carbohydrate rich in vitamins and low in the proteins and fats (the birds) have stored up while on summer range in the North or winter range in the South.
Every fall the robins feast on those honeysuckle berries in my yard and the surrounding fields by the hundreds at a time.
Just this week, the 200 Cedar Waxwings have been feasting on the privet berries. They will not feed on the seed I spread for birds, but they love the 1,000 pounds or so of Privet berries they get from my yard every year. So do the cardinals, sparrows, nuthatches, mockingbirds and others that visit every day from October through March.
Please stop the misinformation about the wonderful honeysuckle and privet we have in Fayetteville.
THE REV. TOM BROWN
Fayetteville
SALE FRUITFUL FOR NEEDY
The Bentonville Noon Lions thank all our loyal customers for purchasing the grapefruit, oranges and tangerines from Florida in our recent fruit sale.
The fruit is preordered and comes from Indian River country in Florida.
The Lions deliver it to their customers.
An extra special thanks to Anne and all the guys and gals at Lowe’s who helped unload our product.
And thanks to the local media for getting the word out.
Profit from our sale will help put eyeglasses on children and adults in need in our area. It will also aid in our screening of preschool children, helping diabetics with their needs and any other eye situations.
We truly hope next February the communities in Northwest Arkansas will again participate in our project.
DICK WILLOWS
Bella Vista
Chairman
Bentonville Noon Lions
Opinion, Pages 5 on 02/28/2013