birds – Page 5 – Health4earth

A Superior Joy

It makes me so happy when butterflies dance along as I walk the road by my house. One day there were dancing sulfurs, another day monarchs, swallow-tail and white admirals. I was watching a northern pearly eye, it flew at me, and decided to sit on my hand for 10 minutes as I continued my walk. July is easy to see painted ladies, red admirals, wood nymph butterflies, checkerspots, fritillaries and many skippers. This is the best time of the year to see butterflies! Get outside and look.

Seeing butterflies is so much easier than seeing birds, but the birds sing their ”I love life” song? some of them must have raised their first family and ready to start again? Song sparrows, red starts, chickadees, chestnut-sided warblers, vireos, and white-throated sparrows seem to sing just for me. I sure appreciate their happy songs.

A Poem for the Summer Solstice

They dance not for me
Yet mine is their glee!
Thus pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find;
Thus a rich-loving kindness, redundantly kind,
Moves all nature to gladness and mirth.

~ William Wordsworth

National Pollinator Week

What can you do to help our birds, bees and butterflies? Can you plant some milkweed or other native plants? Can you become aware and reduce the chemicals you use? Can you learn about neonicotinoids and be sure you never purchase plants that have been treated with them? For your information, neonicotinoids have recently been banned from use by the European Union.

Yesterday I had a mourning cloak, a painted lady, a red admiral, hummingbirds, and monarch caterpillars in my yard. Milkweed and native plants make a big difference for pollinators. I am not a fan of lists because experience is better, but here are some native plant lists to get you started: https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/About and from Audubon

Planting purple cone flowers, bee balm, black-eyed Susan and milkweed are easy ways to get started. After years of trying to get milkweed to grow, I now have swamp milkweed everywhere. It has reseeded itself and thrives in my yard. Also, common milkweed and butterfly weed have sprouted up, but only a few monarch butterflies. The few monarch butterflies have a big job ahead of them, and I am still hopeful we can get their numbers to improve! If everyone does a small part, it can make a big difference!

Below is a video from PBS about monarch caterpillars, enjoy!

Marvelous May

Action For Happiness has a new calendar for May. I Hope your May is meaningful, and that you get outside to do something you love everyday. Going for a walk, time in my yard, and peaceful bike rides make me happy. What outside activities make you happy? Enjoy!

Create More Happiness in the World!

It’s For the Birds!

Black-capped chickadee outside my window

2018 is the year of the bird!

What does that mean? It means Audubon, National Geographic, Cornell, BirdLife International, and most importantly, bird lovers everywhere are teaming up for a year of action for birds! 2018 is the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and what better way to honor our most important bird-protection law than with our own small ways of protecting birds. Sign up to take a pledge to help birds here.

My bird friendly yard. The birds eat the seeds of these cone flowers all winter

Birds are struggling because of loss of habitat, and heavy use of pesticides and other chemicals by farmers, corporations and gardeners. My thing is creating a friendly habitat for birds. Audubon has plants for bird friendly yards. Read at Audubon

Getting Ready for a Long Journey

This is an exciting time for my yard! At this time of year my yard is overrun by monarch butterflies and hummingbirds. Total enjoyment!

The hummingbirds are gorging on the nectar feeder and on the cardinal flowers, and monarchs are obsessed with the blazing star flowers.

Then just like, that they are gone on a perilous journey, migrating to warmer climes. First the hummingbirds are gone, then a week or so later, no monarchs! I hope they aren’t caught in storms, or hit by cars, and that they all arrive in Mexico or Central America safely.

How can you have monarchs and hummingbirds in your yard? First, never use chemicals. Second, plant lots of milkweed, cardinal flowers and blazing star. Good Luck!

September 2. is National Hummingbird Day! A day to celebrate these amazing birds.

June on Lake Superior

June is a month of variety, fresh green plants, and interesting skies. As the month ends, I reflect on the beauty of Lake Superior and the landscape that surrounds it. The length of the days and natural beauty is energizing. Everyday differs with the direction of the wind, and the big lake is usually part of this equation.
The birds are secretly nesting and raising their young, but I watch an unaware flicker fly in and out of her nest hole with food.

Wild geranium, easy to grow, is loved by bees and butterflies.

The lupine, wild geraniums, Canada anemone, thimbleberry, and raspberries bloom while the milkweed takes over the garden path.

And.. everyday enjoys a new butterfly.

I Love Parks and Monuments!

Earlier this month I took a road trip from Minnesota to Washington, D.C. We traveled the back roads through Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Everyday we would stop and hike in a park we came across. It was an amazing experience. Everyday we saw different trees and plants, different landscapes and birds, and a divergent mix of people. It was a lesson in diversity and beauty.
We stopped at monuments, state parks, county parks and national parks. The day we were at Gettysburg, I sat outside and ate lunch at the entrance to Gettysburg, and watched the people as they entered the park headquarters. I was struck by the diversity of people entering. It was a diverse group, of mixed ethnicity, and a range of militia t-shirts to “War is not the answer” shirts. The diversity was so interesting!

Parks and monuments are places we can all come together. They are places the wildlife can thrive, and where we all should feel welcome! In these politically divided times they are a place where everyone can meet, learn and enjoy. Parks and monuments of all kinds are what really show the strength of America! They take you to a history, gratitude and beauty of what our county truly represents. You leave feeling intense patriotism in your heart! Please support and love these amazing treasures.

To learn more about the battle of Gettysburg click here.

And read the Gettysburg Address

Superior Views: Lots of Rain

A rainy week on Lake Superior. Leaves are just budding on the birch trees

A rose-breasted grosbeak brightens the rainy days

The week began with “extreme fire danger” warnings. But the rains came on Monday, and it has rained all week. The swollen rivers and streams pour into Lake Superior turning the lake muddy brown.
The middle of May is always fabulous for viewing migrating warblers in northern Wisconsin. Even with the rain and storms migrants are passing through to their nesting areas. I hope they stay safe. This week we saw yellow-rumps, palm warblers, chestnut-sided, Nashville, oven-bird, and red-starts. Also, we had a beautiful male rose-breasted grosbeak visiting our feeder.
Blooming marsh marigolds are perfect for the wet ditches.

I am Hopeful

This is a collection of hopeful stories I have read the past week.

I love the hopeful stories of this past week. These are stories that give an exciting projection of what the world is going to be like in the future. This is my occasional series on hopeful good news stories happening throughout the world.

1. Cedar Rapids, Iowa is planting 1,000 acres of native prairie to create bee/butterfly/bird/wildlife habitat by planting native prairie plants. 99.99% of Iowa’s native habitat is gone. Information at Iowa Let’s hope other communities will do the same!

2. IKEA has created growrooms which are large, multi-tiered spherical gardens that are designed to sustainably grow enough food to feed a neighborhood.

3. India: This one is beyond my understanding: Scientists in India have captured carbon and are turning it into baking soda. Read about it at India

4. Indonesia: Indonesia, a nation of many islands, has strong goals to cut plastic use. Read about it here.

5. Texas: “I never thought that wind would pay more than oil,” said a Texas landowner. Wind power is paying ranchers more money for wind than oil. Read about it at Texas.

6. Hope for the Paris Climate Agreement. Ivanka Trump and her husband seem to support the historic climate deal.

7. Copenhagen now has more bikes than cars which is no surprise if you visit this biking city. Their bikes lanes are as wide as car lanes. See video bikes in Copenhagen