A magical moment in our woodland

By Margy Terpstra Wednesday, April 30, 2014, was a raw day, overcast and barely 55 degrees. The dawn chorus, however, was loud and clear. So, I was at my camera. Suddenly, a stunning bird with a bright yellow head and blue wings landed in a small American elm in our…

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What is this?

By Kathy Bildner We saw these yesterday in a shallow puddle of water on a glade on Johnson Mountain which is the most northwest of the St. Francis Mountains. I am pretty sure they are spring peeper eggs, as they were making lots of noise before we walked up on…

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Are we really helping?

Marilyn Chryst shared this blog post by Susan J. Tweit from the Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens website. When we garden or landscape with the aim of restoring habitat for wildlife, are we really making a difference? There’s precious little research quantifying the effects of our hard work, but new studies…

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Bring Conservation Home – Habitat Advisor training, April 5

by Betty Struckhoff 2014 is the third year of Bring Conservation Home, a program encouraging homeowners to support our local ecosystem by using more native plants in their landscapes.  BCH is sponsored by St. Louis Audubon and St. Louis Wild Ones is a supporting partner of the program. For a nominal fee, two…

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More bad news for monarchs

A recent article in the New York Times reports that the number of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico has again decreased dramatically. Bad weather last spring contributed to the problem, but the biggest issue is the loss of habitat and milkweed along the migration route. Read the full article.

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Children, monarchs, and Wild Ones volunteers

Nature Night at the Center for Creative Learning in Rockwood School District was a recent event for second grade students who had been studying nature and would be designing a Play Naturescape that could be put in their own back yards. Wild Ones members Ann Early and Bob Siemer set…

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Interested in making your own honey?

Discover why Aristotle, Benjamin Franklin, Leo Tolstoy, Sherlock Holmes, and Sir Edmund Hillary were beekeepers! Learn the right way to keep bees. Attend the seventh annual EMBA instructional workshops, taught by distinguished beekeeping educators and authors. Separate courses offered for beginners and experienced beekeepers. Registration packets include professional illustrated guides….

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Bee surprised!

By Carol Boshart Wes and I were doing a routine evening walk around our garden when we peeked into a damaged shrub and were startled to find an active honey bee hive. The bees nearly covered the comb.  The next morning in the cold weather half the comb was exposed,…

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Forest Park walking tours – Fall 2013

From Peter VanLinn III, Park Ecologist, Forest Park Forever Forest Park Forever continues to offer walking tours in Forest Park: Free to the Public Hour-long behind-the-scenes tours lead by Forest Park Forever Staff Bring family, friends & leashed pets Please have all members of group ready to begin at time…

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Meet the Wild Ones – Scott Barnes

By Amy Redfield Scott Barnes once drove four hours – each way – to get some horsetail plants. His very first solo garden would not be complete without the plant that had fascinated him as a child in the fields near his home. That horsetail, and that fascination, have stayed with him everywhere…

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