Join the Great Backyard Bee Count-Sat, Aug 11

-
Bees are very important because they are major pollinators of many of both the pretty flowers we enjoy but many foods we eat. And there is a problem with bees that has been called 'colony collapse disorder' with beekeepers reporting a loss of 30-90% of their hives! I plant flowers like the sunflower above to bring and nourish bees, both the non-native honey bees and native bees, in my yard. They have rewarded by efforts by very successfully pollinating my tomato and pepper plants providing a bountiful harvest.

The Great Backyard Bee Count is a chance for everyone to help by counting bees in their own yard this Saturday, August 11. This will provide important information from us 'citizen scientists' about where and how many bees there are, information that is lacking.

 What do you need to take part in the bee count
    • Just 15 minutes this Saturday, August 11
    • "You can participate by growing some bee friendly plants in your yard and then taking 15 minutes out of your day to count the bees that visit them. "
    • You do NOT need to be a 'bee expert'-they have guides to help you identify what you see including 'How to tell a Bee'.
      • (there are other insects that look like bees that are also found on pollinating flowers)
And do add some pollinator plants to your yard, try at least one native or near-native plant (like the pretty blanketflower above).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spotted Sandpiper Chicks, 3 more days older

-
Image
Two days when I went to check on the Spotted Sandpiper family at Florence River Park I thought they had likely perished--there were two men engaged in gold panning right where the parent sandpiper had been and they had dug some of the sand from the bank where I last saw the sandpiper chicks. Arggh, I was afraid that all this activity, plus a large off leash dog with these people, would have scared the parent away and even if the chicks were successful in hiding in the vegetation they would not survive without a parent at their young age. What a surprise when I returned that evening for one last check to be accosted by the parent sandpiper calling loudly and challenging me by walking right towards me (and my dog). It took awhile for the parent to settle down and for one of the chicks to walk in some grass where I could spot it--the parent had moved the chicks about 150 from the river into an area with a lot of vegetation. I returned day before yesterday and refound the parent and
Read more

Recently fledged Common Raven

-
Image
At the end of March this year I spotted a Common Raven going into a crevice above a rock face of a local cliff area called Castle Rock (as part of it looks sort of like a castle). I started watching this area and observed a pair of Common Ravens spending time around this location. On March 27 I spotted one of the ravens inside the crevice which now had what looked like nesting material in it--the photograph of that is the second pic here. I continued off and on to check this apparent crevice nest. At the end of May I saw what appeared to be a nestling inside the crevice. I continued birding in the riparian forest across the Arkansas River from this cliff area. When I was about a quarter mile away I heard a lot of raven racket and walked to a spot where I could see the cliff area through my binoculars. I could see a lot of raven action with the parent birds calling loudly so I expected that the nestling may have fledged or they were trying to get it to fledge. I went back t
Read more