The world changed since our last printed issue, before summer, and birding is back in the news.

Before the housing crisis, and before oil prices spiked to unthinkable levels, the wild bird feeding trend seemed to have crested.

Hot-hot-hot two years ago. But how long could we sustain?

Then the economy tanked. And as we headed into summer 2008, people talked about “stay-cations.” No need to drive the minivan to Orlando. Suddenly, it was popular – and economically necessary to stick around the house. And birding and gardening are popular activities when you stay close to home.

Newsweek picked up on this last month when it reported on a related trend. Sending love nature’s way, the story read like something from the 1970s.

"Years of suburban development and unsustainable gardening practices have led to vanishing wildlife populations," reporter Christina Gillham wrote.

The article went on to talk about the National Wildlife Federation increasing its Backyard Wildlife Habitat program, a certification effort for people who make their backyards friendly for all kinds of critters. Including birds.

The idea marries birding and gardening, to an extent.

NWF naturalist David Mizejewski says, "The idea is to create a movement to get gardeners to adopt some of these principles." With fuel prices at an all-time high, people are resorting to staycations or "stay-at-home vacations."

Consumers are avoiding travel and turning their yards into a home entertainment system.

Shoppers are on the lookout for deals on pools, patio furniture, plants, yard ornaments and home entertainment systems, CNN says.

This is a perfect opportunity for customers to attract birds and wildlife to their yards as a way to add to the entertainment around the home.

So here’s a promotion for fall: Backyard Staycation: Fill up on seed and feeders for backyard entertainment.

And of course giveaway a feeder for the best entry in your store’s staycation journal.