Today is a sad day. Across 261 overwintering sites, volunteers counted only 1,914 monarch butterflies for the Western monarch population of California. How does this year compare to previous years? When the Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count was started in 1997, over 1.2 million monarchs were … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2021
Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman
Twenty-two-year-old Amanda Gorman recited her poem The Hill We Climb as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris looked on. This Youth Poet Laureate was the youngest poet to perform at a presidential inauguration. The day was January 20, 2021, the Presidential Inauguration. The Hill We … [Read more...]
A Small Native Plant Garden
Ken Sikora wrote this in an e-mail the other day: "Thanks for the Winter Seeding of a Prairie, Donna! Just last Thursday I did broadcast seeds in an existing prairie, trying to improve the wildflower diversity and fill in some thin spots. I did it knowing it was going to rain Friday, which would … [Read more...]
Winter Seeding of Your Prairie
Reference my blog post titled Winter Seeding Your Prairie. I usually use the winter seeding of my prairie as a general overseeding of the prairie. Recently, a gentleman from Ohio e-mailed to ask me a few questions. He began with the statement, "I'm working with the USDA's Conservation Stewardship … [Read more...]
Bald Eagle Goes Virtual
Bald Eagle Watching Days is going virtual for 2021! For years, bald eagle lovers have flocked to Sauk City, Wisconsin, one of the premiere destinations for watching these birds. But this year, people will be able to attend their favorite annual event virtually, watching these great birds from the … [Read more...]
Whitebark Pine to Be Listed Under Federal Endangered Species Act
On December 2, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. The tree's range covers more than 80.5 million acres in seven western states (Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, … [Read more...]