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butterflies

Establishing Milkweed for Monarchs

October 8, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

common milkweed courtesy Wikimedia user Amos Oliver DoyleDuring a late summer walk, I noticed that the common milkweed in our back field is becoming not-so-common. Once vigorous patches of the milky green plants have dwindled, engulfed in a sea of Canada goldenrod. [Read more…] about Establishing Milkweed for Monarchs

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: butterflies, gardening, insects, Native Plants, nature, Science, Wildlife

Rethinking the Lawn: Cutting the Grass

September 4, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

grass courtesy Wikimedia user J.M.Garg This spring, we went the no-mow route on about a quarter-acre of our lawn, the last remaining groomed piece we hadn’t turned into vegetable garden or permanent meadow. What a relief! During the hottest, driest spells over the summer, the grass wasn’t growing anyway. The lawn we did mow during the drought – mostly pathways – turned unhappily brown. [Read more…] about Rethinking the Lawn: Cutting the Grass

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: bees, butterflies, drought, gardening, insects, nature, pollinators, Summer, Wildlife

DEC’s Intent to Restrict Certain Neonicotinoid Pesticide Products

February 12, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

honeybee courtesy DECThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced plans to reclassify certain neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticide products as “Restricted Use” effective January 1st, 2023. [Read more…] about DEC’s Intent to Restrict Certain Neonicotinoid Pesticide Products

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: bees, birds, butterflies, DEC, gardening, insects, Landscape Architecture, nature, pollinators, pollution, Wildlife

Help Monarch Butterflies on their Long Migration South

September 4, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

monarch caterpillar in pupa stage by Sandy Van VrankenMonarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) begin their annual fall migration in mid-August. These butterflies are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that migrated to Mexico last fall. [Read more…] about Help Monarch Butterflies on their Long Migration South

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: butterflies, insects

Honey Bee Keepers, Curb Your Enthusiasm

August 12, 2021 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

honey bee forager collecting pollen courtesy Jon SullivanWith their marvelous interpretive-dance routines, complex social life, and delicious honey, honeybees are widely respected, but they’re anything but sweet to wild pollinators. In fact, a surfeit of honeybees is a big threat to our native bees and butterflies. [Read more…] about Honey Bee Keepers, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Filed Under: Food, Nature Tagged With: bees, butterflies, gardening, hummingbirds, insects, local farms, nature, pollinators, wildflowers, Wildlife

Other Important Uses for Milkweed

October 19, 2020 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

Common Milkweed Follicle courtesy Wikimedia user H ZellAfter the undulating clouds of blackbird flocks have left the scene, and the broad chevrons of geese have mostly disappeared over the horizon, another momentous fall event begins.

Yes, it’s time for one more native species to take to the air. The great milkweed migration is on. [Read more…] about Other Important Uses for Milkweed

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: agriculture, butterflies, Native Plants, nature, Wildlife

Are Brighter Monarchs Better Flyers?

September 12, 2020 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

monarch butterfly by adelaide tyrolThe September before my daughter was born, my husband and I went for our last pre-baby hike around Camel’s Hump in the Green Mountains of Vermont. We stopped for a snack on the ridgeline, and as we sat munching granola bars we were surprised to see a monarch butterfly flap past, battling the turbulence at this higher elevation.

We watched it disappear southwards, then turned to see a second monarch, then another, fly after the first. It felt like we had stumbled on an aerial herd path as we watched half a dozen orange butterflies flutter southwards along the mountain at treetop height. [Read more…] about Are Brighter Monarchs Better Flyers?

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: butterflies, insects, nature, Wildlife

Tracking Animal Movement and Migration with Motus

August 23, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

grey catbird with transmitter courtesy of Powdermill Avian Research CenterThe Northeast Motus Collaboration recently installed a Motus Wildlife Tracking Station on Lake Shore Marshes Wildlife Management Area (WMA).

Located on the edge of Lake Ontario, this station is the first of five that are being installed on WMAs in New York this summer to track wildlife movement. [Read more…] about Tracking Animal Movement and Migration with Motus

Filed Under: Nature, Western NY Tagged With: birding, birds, butterflies, Great Lakes, Lake Ontario, nature, Wildlife

Butterflies Sip Sweet Nectar

August 15, 2020 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

butterfly by adelaide tyrolRecently I saw a beautiful orange butterfly speckled with black – a great spangled fritillary – feeding on orange hawkweed in a meadow.

I observed it through binoculars, so as not to scare it off, then slowly crept closer.

I watched as the butterfly unfurled its proboscis, a tube that functions like a straw, and inserted it into the flower. Then the fritillary sucked up nectar by rhythmically contracting muscles in its head. Sugars in the nectar provide energy for flight, defense, reproduction, and the butterfly’s other daily activities. [Read more…] about Butterflies Sip Sweet Nectar

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: butterflies, insects, Native Plants, nature, Wildlife

NY Natives: Joseph Shauquethqueat’s Joe Pye Weed

June 25, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Joe Pye weed by Danielle BrigidaJune 22-28 is National Pollinator Week and one of New York State’s important pollinator friendly species is Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium spp.), a native essential for any garden seeking to attract and help pollinators.

According to legend, Joe Pye was a Native American herbalist who used local plants to cure a variety of illnesses including typhoid fever. For years, it was unknown if Joe Pye was a real person or a botanical myth, that is until research confirmed the plant’s name originated from the nickname of Joseph Shauquethqueat, a Mohican chief who lived in Massachusetts and New York in the 18th and early 19th centuries. [Read more…] about NY Natives: Joseph Shauquethqueat’s Joe Pye Weed

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: bees, butterflies, gardening, Indigenous History, Medical History, Native American History, Native Plants, nature, pollinators, Wildlife

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