Pesticides
Is this treatment really necessary in 2015? Do people think that a process which ends with a sign being erected warning them of pesticide and to stay clear for at least 24 hours, with a crossed out circle featuring a pet and a child, is somehow going to mean they have a healthy yard? How can anyone think these chemicals will not harm them, not to mention the environment, for a prolonged period of time? These little things drive me crazy, especially when my name is attached to it…we need to stop making some yards into fields of death, and besides that, what is the prettiest picture of...
Read MoreWhite-throated Sparrows massing and feeding
White-throated Sparrows have arrived in tremendous numbers across the region, ready to eat you out of house and home all winter long! Before then, while the grass and earth is still exposed, without being snow-covered or frozen, they can feast on more natural meals. I took a bunch of photos of a few individuals in a group feeding on the lawn last week. There would not be much to chow down on if this were uniformly treated bright, green grass, one species that was chemically induced to look like the perfect lawn. These monocultures are taking up valuable habitat real estate and often consist...
Read MoreWired world of swallows
Sometimes I think the swallows would hate a wireless world most of all. Tree, Barn, Northern Rough-winged, Bank, Cliff and a Purple Martin or two can still all be seen trying to head south. Aerial insectivores have to go where the food is flying or they’ll be in deep trouble. We need to rely more on them to clean our skies rather than chemicals which harm us all.
Read MoreBusy bees
Shout out and thanks to the bees busy at work this week. We couldn’t do…anything…without you. Let’s keep this in mind when we consider what products and chemicals we put into our yards and gardens and keep it as minimal as possible. Water is enough!
Read MoreMonarch butterflies
Here it is, one Meet Your Neighbours display that needs no introduction – the Monarch (Danaus plexippus), with a female on the left and a male on the right. We must all continue to work to make certain that future generations can enjoy them in real life and not simply via beautiful photos like these. Only through a collective effort to combat deadly chemical pollutants from intentionally entering our ecosystem, protecting vital habitat during all seasons and educating our children can we turn the tide on the decline of once abundant and now fading species like these. They may not be in...
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