Some Bad Butterfly News

that is so sad and people still say the global climate isn't changing.
we have had very few butterflies this year in the uk too. one way of 'noticing it' is the very few dead insects stuck to the front of vehicles. :o(

Dreadful news Loosestrife. lets hope some of them d manage to make it after all.

This is dreadful news. I heard on the radio this week that there has been a 70% reduction in ALL winged insects in the UK in the past 27 years. Its frightening. Then I heard, in the same programme, that all the bulbs we plant have been coated with Neonicotinoids which are blamed for the reduction in the Bees. I couldn'e beileve the sheer stupidity of it.

Not good now, a disaster for future generations

That makes me so sad..... what is this world coming to?

The Tornadoes must affect the Monarchs badly too.
They used to fly across the Atlantic on the prevailing westerly winds.

What can we do ?

1. Try to grow just a few vegetables on
the land we have to avoid buying chlorine washed supermarket vegetables. (I always peel roots.)

2. Thompson & Morgan seed catalogue has a wealth of
new ideas for container grown food. I plan to put my
container plants on the border. Am growing Dwarf Bush Beans, Salad leaves, Mustard, and Little Gem Lettuce
in Gerbil recycled compost in the containers. They are nearer to the water butt which helps me in the hot weather. I cant have a hose pipe.
I recycle all my compost so never buy Peat based material or other ideas.

Any other ideas ? We are here to listen.

Years ago I read Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" where she wrote about the detrimental effects pesticides had on the environment.

I am forever adding my name to petitions banning the use of these as they kill bees and we are still ignored. I do fear for the future.

I was just going to say similar Eirlys...all well and good trying to grow stuff to help, but if its all been drenched in neonicotinoids, even the seed...what harm are we actually doing?

Reading all this makes me sad as well. What man does to this planet in the name of progress. :-(.

There are organic seeds on the market. We used to have a man on the allotments whose Chinese wife always sowed them, cant remember her supplier.
They grew and delivered boxes of organic vegetables.
They went back to live in Hong Kong where there are a lot of allotments, got a new plot were very happy there.

This is very sad news,I have not had many in my garden this year.

Such awful news!
I suppose we really need to get back to how things used to be when fathers grew vegetables & mothers stayed at home & cooked & baked proper meals for the family.
These days though we all want so much & couples need all the income they can get if they want a home of their own.

I have heard several gardening programmes asking for people to not be so tidy in the garden but to let some weeds grow & also to have a wild flower patch even a small one is a help.

Did you read that now they are trying to get a new one approved in France, which is just as bad as the one we've been fighting for so long? Look out for the petition.

Unbelievable, Stera. Don't these people have children and grandchildren?

We haven't seen the amount of insects that we normally do. Even the wasps have been raiding the spiders webs here. The seas are polluted with plastic and where will it all stop the way mankind is treating this wonderful planet. With so many not bothered about it all, I wonder what will happen. The world is becoming over populated and gradually taking over the ground where the wildlife used to be, and with all the wildfires, and the way we are using up the earth's resources, it doesn't take much imagination as to where it will all end up. The planet has fought back in the past and I've no doubt it will in the future.

Yet there were over 80 million deaths which occurred within the short period of time called World War Two. The human race does bounce back with a vengeance does it not?

Now my part of the woods has gone from unusually warm weather for a long period of time to stunningly cold weather for a very long stretch of almost 3 weeks with no end in sight. The forecast for the New York metropolitan to area shows nothing above 12 F. My pups walks have been shortened to no more than two minutes out side. Any longer than that and it looks like they are walking on a hot plate with their paws burning from cold. Many ponds and lakes are frozen over and geese are living off their fat reserves. For birds, all available water has frozen solid except for the artesian spring in the woods beyond my property. How do I know? I can see the vapor rising from it (the temp of the water from its source is around 50 degrees so in near 0 F conditions it has the appearance of a hot bathtub.) As I have said previously there is no end in sight to this cold and I am afraid that most wildlife is being stressed to the limits.

America is having a tough time of it at the moment with the cold conditions. We've seen some pictures on our news. Hope you keep safe and well through it all. It's minus one point five here this morning with a frost and ice, but with a clear sky hopefully some of it will melt later. We went and fed the wildfowl with some grain yesterday, and they were very hungry.