our toxic lives. As a child into adulthood I was fortunate to have lived within a few miles of of a major flyway and National Wildlife Refuge and have albeit a few more miles, done the same for the past 35 years.
I find myself getting more interested in birding now than at anytime in the past and having spent a good part of my professional life in the petro chemical industry have become more aware of how toxic numbers have effected nature in general terms. Folks...using my current experience with the birding side of the equation it's a obvious outcome that is un-winnable.
Where I live now it's become March and April and later months on the return that most watching is done. The numbers have and will continue to lessen. If I spend any time at all getting to the beaches or wetlands I'm finding less subjects to watch and this also includes the year round birds that normally inhabit my property.
So the question is are there any birders or just any other type of nature followers here that are noticing those same issues.
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More alarming is the situation with the bees. I'm planning to pollinate our pumpkin patch myself with Q-tips this year, as the bees have mostly vanished.
Not a good trend.
I do notice that many lakes in my area have lost their weed beds. I think it is from runoff from farms that use liquid manure.
We have some but not as many as in past years.
Haven't planned my attack yet but I'm not one to sit around and complain. Last year I took on the US Postal Service on a nation wide issue with the help of my US congressman and it got a positive result.
So I ask those who like to complain, what have you as a individual done in support of those issues you're concerned about. Trust me, one voice pulling the load alone can make a difference.
There is a very large sanctuary (Wheeler Wildlife Refuge) and numerous birding trails. Not to mention... billions of insects to eat. Seems like all of the northern birds (and Monarch butterfly's) pass through here.
And no lightning bugs here last year (mud state TN) but tons this year but this year the frogs are quiet where as last year they were deafening.
Nature, wtf.
Our tour guide was a Scottish man who we found out later over the course of 12 hours wanted to be a cowboy so he went to America and found out the real cowboys are in Alberta Canada. So he lived for years in Canada as a cowboy.
Then somehow ended up in Spain as our guide.
Anyways.
Our guide saw two people on the tour with us and whispered, “They’re birders!”
Turns out he was right.
Still one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.
As to fireflies, I remember as a kid the night air being literally filled with them (we would catch them in jars as a pastime). Now, there are still a fair number, but nothing like what I recall from years ago. Maybe it's just faulty memory, but I think there are less than there were; at least around here.
That said, it doesn't seem to have helped the insects (except the f'in Japanese beetles that are going after some of my vegetables ...)
The other night I watched as a hawk defended his territory against an intrusion by a young red-shouldered hawk. You could hear this squabble between the two get louder and louder....and don't think it ended well for that young hawk.
There's also a Barred Owl who always looks for a snack in the twilight. They have a very distinctive call, you hear him before you see him. One night I spotted him up high on a tree branch. His call spooked a squirrel out of the tall grass and without flapping his wings, Mr Owl dropped down on that squirrel and scooped him up. Dinner time.
Also, lots of bees, dragon flies, beetles, tree frogs, hawks, falcons, blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, robins, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, opossums, raccoons, coyotes, deer, and someone on my neighborhood Ring doorbell group had a bobcat in their backyard. Every now and then I see a fisher.
We did used to have a hummingbird that would come around that I haven't seen this year.
Seems like a pretty normal time in suburban Massachusetts. Not much more building we can do here so maybe we're just taking away less of the established animal habitat compared to other areas that have more room to build. Not sure.
Eventually governments will be forced to become like China to limit the number of kids you have.
Have seen a ton of sparrows and also resident cardinals, mourning doves, grackles, blue jays, woodpeckers and a couple gold finches. It has been a nice addition to the garden area.
Have also seen dragonflies and bees but not too many butterflies. My least fave are the beetles that are attracted to light but cannot fly worth a damn. Why even have wings, just gets them into trouble.
Have learned that you cannot fight the squirrels so I drop them some seeds too. I was also surprised to see how many sunflower seeds a chipmunk can fit into its jowls. A lot.
Eventually governments will be forced to become like China to limit the number of kids you have.
With the exception of corruption, over population is the root cause of almost every problem on earth today. I remember my mom talking about the perils of over population nearly 50 years ago, and it’s only gotten worse. It is my understanding that population growth in “western” nations, and or most of the northern hemisphere is actually declining. I believe even China has population decline (though that horse has also left the barn there). Anyway, yeah, way too people on earth.
Lots of cardinals, robins et al but I note fewer crows.
Not sure what is up there since crows are easily the smartest of all the birds in this area.
Why would they have moved on?
What do the crows know that the other birds don't?