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by SantaFeJoe on Sat May 23, 2015 7:39 am
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A corridor that may help Monarchs:

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/05 ... 432325222/

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/20 ... d-monarchs

Joe
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.  -Pablo Picasso
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by Kari Post on Sun May 24, 2015 8:44 am
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I just heard of a bee highway in Oslo. Cool concept!
Kari Post, former NSN Editor 2009-2013
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by Paul Fusco on Thu May 28, 2015 11:27 am
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At first look, the concept sounds nice.
But ...
Enticing butterflies and bees to use habitat adjacent to highways doesn't seem like a good thing.
While I'm all for protecting any habitat for wildlife, this sounds like a way for the Service to score "feel-good" points without dealing with the real problems of habitat loss and large scale pesticide use.

Paul
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by Blck-shouldered Kite on Sun May 31, 2015 8:14 am
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Good point Paul.  And I really do agree with you Paul, that the Service might well be inclined to put a bandaid on this.   But we really do not know.

And let us keep in mind that mortality is always compensated for within any species (some more than others)....IF there is sufficient amounts of suitable habitat.  So, no, it is not the best thing to have the habitat next to a highway.  But, from another perspective, it is a way to promote the butterflies and bees.  

We need to capture the public (the masses; i.e. not just naturalists) sentiment and hold it.. permanently!

This is progress I feel.  I am thankful.  Hopefully it will spread further.  Did they not leave  out the Northeast (for one), as an example?  Yes, the Monarch funnels through Texas (as the bulk of the birds species do) during migration.  

Oh...is this proposed habitat to only carry them (regarding energy!) to and from Mexico and America?

Again, I encourage all of us to start our own habitat right in our own yard or property.  Mine is just beginning to take off.  Here is some of what I have so far from just two years:

1.  Milkweed:  naturally germinated right here and from where I do not know!!! I love it.  Last Spring/Summer it was just one single plant that showed up and I actually got one single Monarch last year that showed up on that one plant.  It peeked over the top of one of the leaves at me, stayed a few minutes and left.  But it is a start!  And now, this Spring, I have 3 or 4 new, naturally germinated milkweeds that have popped up.

2.  Joe-Pye-Weed:  Bought a plant (gateway variety) from a local nursery.  JPW is a NATIVE, UBIQUITOUS, North American wildflower that is super beneficial to butterflies and bees.  

3.  BTW...if you want to feed the birds...first feed the insects.  We have to keep telling the public that the poisons are killing our terrestrial food web right at the base.  Thusfar, Home Depot and Lowe's have refused to remove the poison from their shelves.  But they will.  It ain't over till it's over...and it ain't over!!

4. Heliopsis helianthoides....False Sunflower:  This is a native to the NA prairie, not the NE (where I presently am) but good enough for me to be called native.  I love it because it is 4 to 6 feet or taller, is vibrantly yellow.  Again, I bought it already blooming last year from a local nursery.  It is back up this Spring and flourishing!  From what I have learned so far, I have to watch this one to make sure it does not take over completely. 

    a.  Also bought a packet of seeds from Amazon ("Roundstone Native Seeds").  

5.  Butterfly Weed (not Butterfly Bush!):  BW is actually a milkweed (I am told).  Bought a packet of BW, also from AMZ and provided by Everwilde.com seed company.  At first I really like Everwilde because they also send a printed page, explaining good tips on successful germination that I would not know otherwise.  Hey...I may be a wildlife biologist but I am brand new to learning how to select, germinate, grow and nurture wildflowers.  Butterfly Bush is not ideal.  I believe it is native to Asia and although it does attract ADULT lepidopterans, it does not feed the larvae (caterpillars).  I will persist at keeping all foreign (exotics) plants from becoming established on the small parcel that is mine to have stewardship of (i.e. I own it LOL).  

6.  Boneset:  This is another native wildflower that is used by so many of our invertebrate friends.  I remember JPW and BONSET way back in the 70's when I was cruising the north maine woods for maine fish and game.  JPW and BONESET are two of the native wildflower mainstays...at least in the NE they are.  Also got this seed packet from AMZ (Roundstone Native Seed)

7.  Black-eyed Susan:  (this seed packet is of Rudbeckia subtomentosa).  I am to understand that this one has to be watched too, because it can spread fast.  nonetheless, it is a native wildflower and used by all our invertebrate friends.

8.  have to rent a rototiller now to tear up some more patches of lawn so that I can establish these seeds.  I do not like much lawn.  

9.  a nicely kept NATIVE wildflower meadow (no matter how small) is much more attractive then a lawn!  Lawns are sterile environments.

10.  Together, we can turn this around.    

11.  And along the way, we will be starting our own nature photo studios.  

12.  Doug Tallamy PhD. has simplified this entire thing in his book.  Here is the link again:

http://www.bringingnaturehome.net/

13.  If we plant native herbs and feed the insects, we will re-build a solid base in our terrestrial food web.

Have fun!

If you just click on the link below, you will instantly see a beautiful bullfrog image.  Aren't they exciting looking?  I guess it is the eye..  I just love shooting bullfrogs :)
Robert
http://robertkingimages.smugmug.com/
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by SantaFeJoe on Mon Jun 22, 2015 8:32 pm
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Here is another effort to help the butterflies:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/loc ... story.html

Joe
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.  -Pablo Picasso
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by Blck-shouldered Kite on Tue Jun 30, 2015 1:38 pm
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Yes, I believe that this is all going to catch on and link itself together…state to state, across NA…maybe the world. It seems that this problem of no butterflies/bees is all so easy to correct…..too easy. And so, maybe I am being naive. I have been beating this drum for over a decade. Doug Tallamy much longer. He has much more information than I had. He is putting all together. I know it to be the utter truth.

AND THE TRUTH IS GOING TO STAND ALONE ON THIS.

Went to Doug Tallamy's presentation last week at the local Audubon. The content of his presentation/message….is mind-blowing. This guy has research results that really, really tell the whole story. It is a story that we just did not or could not see in generations past. The data are irrefutable and he makes it all so clear.

I did a thread here on this in the past. But It think it is difficult to search for past threads here on NSN. Can someone please tell me the easy, effective way? I have asked in the past, and gotten no (or little) response. I would like to reference a thread (as I recall) about the book "Bringing Nature Home."

Did you know that the our native Oaks (Quercus spp) host something like 350 native species that in turn feed our native birds? And did you also know that an imported species such as the Bradford Pear hosts…..almost zero native species?

Doug was featured in this New York Times article, whose title says it all:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/garde ... .html?_r=0

I should have recorded Doug's entire presentation but I got there right at the beginning and I do not know if he would have given permission for that. Anyway, I did just order a DVD that is supposedly an entire Doug Tallamy presentation.

If you have not seen his presentation, I am confident that you will in the future years. This movement is growing in America (at least).

I predict that it is not going to stop now. I do not think that big business can stop this movement. I do think that local nurseries are going to find a new, growing market…….in our historical, native plants. THAT IS EXCITING !!!

It is happening right now. We spread the word and it is spreading. Keep spreading the word folks. It is working!!!
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