Pleased to share that I'm doing a webinar next Wednesday, May 28th. I'll be talking about my participation in Cornell's Ground-nesting Bees research project with my garden's Rufous-backed Cellophane Bees.

My Little Bees: Participatory Pollinator Research in NYC https://www.eventbrite.com/e/my-little-bees-participatory-pollinator-research-in-nyc-registration-1374824570299

#Bees #Webinar #NYC #Pollinators #HabitatGardening

#WorldBeeDay

🐝 Sharp-tailed Bees don't have pollen collecting hairs. Don't need them because they lay their eggs in other bee's nests. (This is called being "cleptoparasitic".)

🐝 There have to be enough of their specific prey bees to keep their population going. But insect populations have been dropping for decades, so Sharp-tailed Bees can be very hard to find.

Needless to say, I was thrilled to see one in my garden on a cloudy day.

#Insect #NativeBees #HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Pollinator #Nature #NaturePhotography #Gardening

🦋 Yesterday there was a new species seen in my garden! A Zebra Swallowtail was on the butterfly weed. Striking colors. A little manic and hard to photograph with my phone. Will post a video over on my Peertube account soon.

🌳 This find is of particular interest because the life cycle of the Zebra Swallowtail includes its larvae eating a particular plant: The American Pawpaw.

❓ Where are these Pawpaw trees? If I find them, maybe I can conserve them somehow to maintain this butterfly species. This would be the first insect that I have tried to conserve whose lifecycle extends outside my garden.

😋 Not to mention that I can harvest their tasty fruit.

🥾 Looks like I have a little adventure ahead this summer. Until then, I'll keep moist soil available for males to get nutrients for reproduction.

#HabitatGardening #NativePlants #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening @gardening #Insect #Butterfly #Nature #NaturePhotography

#Brooklyn, #NYC: TODAY, 2-4:30pm, I'll be at the Great Flatbush Plant Swap, an annual event I co-founded waaay back in 2010! We'll be in front of the Flatbush Food Co-Op, 1415 Cortelyou Road.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJXeTJ6uL2a/

I'll be bringing native plants from my garden. And I'll be on-hand to share my experience with gardening for habitat with native plants, as well as general gardening advice and tips.

#NativePlants #HabitatGardening

#Brooklyn, #NYC: THIS SUNDAY, 2-4:30pm, I'll be at the Great Flatbush Plant Swap, an annual event I co-founded waaay back in 2010! We'll be in front of the Flatbush Food Co-Op, 1415 Cortelyou Road.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJXeTJ6uL2a/

I'll be bringing native plants from my garden. And I'll be on-hand to share my experience with gardening for habitat with native plants, as well as general gardening advice and tips.

#NativePlants #HabitatGardening

My 20 most recently uploaded #iNaturalist observations:

Bug
Bug
Bug
Bug
Bug
MUSHROOM!
Bug
Bug
Bug
BIRD!
Bug
Bug
Bug
Bug
Bug
Bug
Bug
Bug
Bug
PLANT!

Bees: 10
Other Insects: 5
Other Arthropods: 2

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?user_id=xris&verifiable=any

#UrbanNature #Naturalist #MasterNaturalist #Brooklyn #NYC #HabitatGardening #Bees #Bugs #NaturePhotography

A bee-mimic hoverfly hurries to gorge on a clump of lovely Golden Ragwort flowers. This is from my garden where I have plenty of space for #NativePlants.

👁️ I'm always looking for #NativeBees on these flowers, a favorite of theirs. When I see them, I'll look up what else they need for their lifecycle and supply that as well.

🐝 There are bee homes you can purchase, but sometimes it's just adding sand to soil or placing small pebbles in a good location. Not hard at all.

🦋 But wait, there's more! Gem Moth caterpillars eat the leaves. I'll be looking for those caterpillars and moths later.

#HabitatGardening #Nature #Bloomscrolling
#Gardening #BiodiversityGardening #FlowerFriday

If you are a USian lawnlord, you may look down in the early Spring and see many tiny bluish flowers and determine that you have weeds to remove and pull out some weedkiller.

🐝 OTOH if you were trying to improve life for early #pollinators, very important, you would let some of these small but complex flowers have their time in the sun.

🦋 It's not native to the US and is weedy, but flowers even in late winter, so it can be an important pollen and nectar source when there are few other choices.

🍵 Foragers have been known to make tea or decorate foods with this edible plant and flower.

Common Field Speedwell (Birdeye Speedwell or Birds-Eye Speedwell are other names)
Veronica persica

#Nature #Bloomscrolling #Gardening #BiodiversityGardening #HabitatGardening #FlowerFriday

Feeling this.

Monday I found the 66th bee species in my garden this week.

#Bees #HabitatGardening #UrbanGardens #Brooklyn #NYC #PoisonIvy

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