Buttercups and Bobolinks
Fields painted yellow, birds singing and the sun shining, what else could we ask for? Throughout Chautauqua County the fields are becoming seas of gold as the buttercups bloom. These common flowers don’t just make a large grassy field pretty, but also provide habitat and cover for a number of breeding grassland birds. For Bobolinks in particular, these fields provide a great deal of food, abundant nesting materials and a safe haven to raise their young. As we have been conducting vegetation surveys at the Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport, we have been surrounded by these incredible...
Read MoreClover City
So many clovers, so little time! Welcome to summer. Let your grass grow up a bit and see what you can find. The bugs, bees to butterflies, will all appreciate it, and so will our air, your wallet and your back.
Read MoreEastern Grass-veneer (Crambus laqueatellus)
This looks to be an Eastern Grass-veneer (Crambus laqueatellus) moth, one of those diurnal pick-ups that is only really possible thanks to following their flight once you flush them…unless you have a few hours each day to crawl around in the grass and stare at things! That actually sounds like a lot of fun, and what most of us did as children. We should probably do that as adults, too. Give it a go this weekend!
Read MoreTulip Tree Flower
I noticed this Tulip Tree flower on the ground only because it was lit by one ray of sunlight in the shade. The leaves have popped here, there and everywhere! We are really getting that late spring feel to the weather this week. If you can let that lawn grow up a little this summer please do. It helps all of our pollinators, means less pollution, saves your time, money and energy, and can even provide a better habitat for some of our birds. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreEastern Tailed-blue
Our lawns, grasslands and other open areas are increasingly busy with butterfly species like this Eastern Tailed-blue (Cupido comyntas) now found in the grass. Watch where you step and enjoy the show on the ground!
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