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Of Birds and the Bees & Recycling
Friday, April 4, 2008
The petals end up covering the ground like a sheet of pink and white before long, and the bees love them (so do I! The whole yard smells GREAT!) But I don't rake the petals up because the bees (to my surprise!) still find nectar in the fallen flowers.
Bee Feeding From Fallen Flower Blossom
Birds are migrating in from the South, coming to breed, having overwintered anywhere from Argentina to Cuba, and even a few from Africa. And with the new developments, a lot of them are going to come back and find their Woodland Habitat has been paved over, and houses built on them. And a LOT of the birds are too shy or too leery of people to nest in Residential area neighborhoods. So many of these poor animals are going to find themselves displaced and looking for not only new HOMES, but new FOOD resources -- places to eat. And some will not succeed.
The effect on the 'neighborhood' diversity is going to go down for awhile, and take awhile LONGER to recover -- though it will NEVER recover the diversification which was here before. Everything is taking a hit -- except the squirrels, sparrows, rats and ants.
So I provide as best I can a habitat as rich in resources as I can for these displaced critters (but NOT the squirrels!). I have over 50 birdhouses scattered about, and at least 5 or more bird feeders. There's a LOT of benefit to this: I don't have to use pesticides and the "bug man" doesn't have to spray his - the birds eat all the bugs up -- and my Roses, which used to be plagued by Japanese Beetles, haven't seen a Beetle in the past few years. Plus I have a variety of bird life that you just don't see anywhere else around here -Hawks and Finches (including my favorite, the Goldfinch!) , Sparrows and Blue Jay; Mockingbirds and Chickadees, Orioles and Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Owls. More than what I can count or identify.
Both have taken some pretty big hits over the past decade (more, actually -- you won't see any dodos or passenger pigeons, for instance!) -- and honey bees have all but disappeared. Yes, DISAPPEARED. Scientists have joked that aliens came down and "bee-napped" them, for their numbers dropped by approximately 40% in the past few years, and in the 70's and 80's they suffered from an imported mite disease which almost decimated their population -- and now crows are down by 40%, and raptors, (owls, hawks, eagles) have dropped dramatically in some areas due to the avian flu (Avian influenza , known to scientists as H5N1 - an Asian import.) And WE, us humans, can catch avian flu as well from the "common disease vector" (a vector is what carries the disease) -- the common female Mosquito.
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Of Birds and the Bees & Recycling
   |
| Okay -- admit it -- it was the "Birds and the bees" statement in that piqued your interest, LOL! And yes, we ARE going to discuss "the Birds and the Bees"! Spring is here, and the birds and the bees are in the air. kinda THICK around here with my trees in bloom |
 Which results in what I like to call "Southern Snow" -- fallen Flower petals. |
The petals end up covering the ground like a sheet of pink and white before long, and the bees love them (so do I! The whole yard smells GREAT!) But I don't rake the petals up because the bees (to my surprise!) still find nectar in the fallen flowers.
Bee Feeding From Fallen Flower BlossomBirds are migrating in from the South, coming to breed, having overwintered anywhere from Argentina to Cuba, and even a few from Africa. And with the new developments, a lot of them are going to come back and find their Woodland Habitat has been paved over, and houses built on them. And a LOT of the birds are too shy or too leery of people to nest in Residential area neighborhoods. So many of these poor animals are going to find themselves displaced and looking for not only new HOMES, but new FOOD resources -- places to eat. And some will not succeed.
The effect on the 'neighborhood' diversity is going to go down for awhile, and take awhile LONGER to recover -- though it will NEVER recover the diversification which was here before. Everything is taking a hit -- except the squirrels, sparrows, rats and ants.
So I provide as best I can a habitat as rich in resources as I can for these displaced critters (but NOT the squirrels!). I have over 50 birdhouses scattered about, and at least 5 or more bird feeders. There's a LOT of benefit to this: I don't have to use pesticides and the "bug man" doesn't have to spray his - the birds eat all the bugs up -- and my Roses, which used to be plagued by Japanese Beetles, haven't seen a Beetle in the past few years. Plus I have a variety of bird life that you just don't see anywhere else around here -Hawks and Finches (including my favorite, the Goldfinch!) , Sparrows and Blue Jay; Mockingbirds and Chickadees, Orioles and Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Owls. More than what I can count or identify.
Both have taken some pretty big hits over the past decade (more, actually -- you won't see any dodos or passenger pigeons, for instance!) -- and honey bees have all but disappeared. Yes, DISAPPEARED. Scientists have joked that aliens came down and "bee-napped" them, for their numbers dropped by approximately 40% in the past few years, and in the 70's and 80's they suffered from an imported mite disease which almost decimated their population -- and now crows are down by 40%, and raptors, (owls, hawks, eagles) have dropped dramatically in some areas due to the avian flu (Avian influenza , known to scientists as H5N1 - an Asian import.) And WE, us humans, can catch avian flu as well from the "common disease vector" (a vector is what carries the disease) -- the common female Mosquito.
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This entry has 4 comments: (Add your own)
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Congratulations on being chosen as Guest Editor's Pick. I have a 13yr old Eco Warrior daughter who wrote a piece on global warming for a project In school and managed to reduce the teacher to tears. If I get It, I will share. We have her at us all the time for lights etc! lol Never a dull moment In our home! lol. Love Pam xx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/pamal3/almost-40/ -
Congrats on being a "Guest Editor Pick"
Yasmin
x -
Thanks for doing things to help with the environment. Found you by way of Guest Editor Pick. :o) http://journals.aol.com/bucko
clown/Bucko
4/6/08 3:56 AM
http://journals.aol.com/madco