Dying Trees

Why are the trees dying? We actually have two problems affecting two different types of trees here at the Villages. The first problem is beetles attacking the Monterey Pine trees. We have been slowly losing Monterey Pine trees to beetles at the Villages for the past 23 years.
The second problem is with Redwood trees. We have been losing Redwood trees since we switched to recycled water 12 years ago. Recycled water has higher salt levels than potable water and Redwood trees are very sensitive to salt.



Monterey Pine with beetle damage

Redwood tree affected by high salt levels in the recycled water

Crop Circles

The photo below is a good example of a turf disease known as Fairy Ring. Although Fairy Rign can be a problem on new greens, here at the Villages the disease is limited to the fairways and rough.

 

I'll Have a BBQ Chicken Sandwich and an Ice Cold Beer!

The Phone at the 8th tee is now working. Call down to the Bar-B-Q by the proshop and have your lunch waiting for you when you make the turn.
 

 

 

 

Second Annual Birdhouse Tour

More than 45 Villagers participated in the Second Annual Birdhouse Tour on Monday, May 21st. We were very lucky again this year to be led by Mary and Dave Fullerton. Many interesting birds were seen along the way, including a Red Shouldered Hawk, a White-Tailed Kite and a Green Heron.

Mary Fullerton leads tour of the birdhouses at The Villages.

Tour gatheres around birdhouse at the first tee

Perfect weather greeted Villages birders

This is Only a Test

The first member of the Villages Golf Committee to email me and tell me the vineyard on this label will win a bottle of this very tasty Merlot.

No Longer an Empty Nester

We finally have a resident in the birdhouse on the golf course that has a web camera built into the roof. Below are two photos taken with the BirdCam. In the top photo is a close up of the top of the bird as it perches on the doorway. In the lower photo two eggs can be seen in the nest. To see live streaming from the BirdCam, simply go to the Villages website. Go thru the Residents portal and click on the BirdCam icon on the bottom right of the page.

 

 

Monumental Tee Refurbishing

Several Villagers have kindly voluntered to spruce up the tee monuments. They will be cleaning, repairing and painting the monuments. If you happened to notice that the bells were missing from the monuments there is no need to worry. They are in the shop getting a new coat of paint.