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For the birds
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Bruce Atnip is an avid birdwatcher with a lot of experience and knowledge about local avian wildlife.
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Cold temperatures are on their way out and mornings filled with birdsong are flying in.

Spring heralds the beginning of wildlife waking up from its winter slumber, or returning home from migrations in the case of birds. It makes for a great opportunity to observe them going about building nests and foraging for food.

Bird watching is a fun activity for anyone of any age and it’s easy to get involved. Local bird watcher Bruce Atnip assures that very little is needed to start enjoying bird watching.

“You can simply observe with your eyes. You can also use binoculars or a good camera and photograph your bird friends,” says Atnip. “Remember to be mindful of your environment. Don’t trash a place and don’t invade someone else’s space or trespass. Don’t touch nests or eggs. The quieter you are, the more songs the birds will offer.”

This time of year has a cast of colorful birds for viewing pleasure, including cardinals, a variety of woodpeckers, finches, mourning doves, nuthatches and more.

“Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds has an extensive list of native birds,” advises Atnip. “You will even see rare or odd varieties of birds from time to time like gulls and others that are out of their normal zones.”

Birds have a special interest in food and spend much of their waking life looking for insects, seeds and other items appropriate for their diet. This drive to feed can make an excellent tool for luring birds into your viewing range by setting up bird feeders. Be warned, however, that bread is not biologically appropriate for birds and can cause them a great deal of harm. Instead, Atnip suggests feeding them seed mixtures or suet in lieu of bread.

When placing your feeders, it is important to place them somewhere that gives you opportune visual access to the birds. “If you plan to view or photograph for a length of time, create a viewing area. Once situated, within 15 to 20 minutes the lunch crowd flies in,” explains Atnip. “I often sit in my vehicle with a window down and camera pointed at the feeders. Once I get quiet, the gang comes back to eat.”

Between fill-ups, the feeders should be cleaned properly as they can promote harmful pathogen growth and infect the birds feeding from it if left unclean. A diluted bleach solution, one part bleach to nine parts water, is a great formula for cleaning them. After allowing the feeder to dry, it is ready to be refilled and replaced for the birds to enjoy once again.

Viewing your local feathered friends is a great way to reduce stresses and slow the rapid pace daily in which life seems to run.

“Birdwatching and photographing not only aids in science research and education, it provide a great way to relieve stress,” says Atnip. “It offers calm as you watch the antics of some bird visitors, while enjoying the concert – a song that truly cannot be described in words, but fills us with joy and peace.”

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community