Tag: Animal visitors

swallowtail by Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens

New: Live butterflies coming to Botanical Gardens; buy tickets now

Experience hundreds of live butterflies fluttering around you during the new Butterfly Experience at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. It will be open this summer on June 7 and go through August 3. Tickets are expected to sell quickly; you may want to purchase tickets now. See details below. The exhibit will be housed inside the new Tropical Orchard greenhouse, which has dozens of fruit-producing and nectar-rich plants for the butterflies to feed on. You will see butterflies that are…...

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Mar 11, 2025
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chickens

Want to raise hens for eggs? It may be harder to find chicks this year

by Connie Oswald Stofko If you want to start raising chickens for eggs, don’t be scared off by avian flu (bird flu), said Amy Barkley, the subject matter expert on avian influenza at Cornell University. However, you may face a different problem: finding chicks and pullets to start your flock. (Pullets are females raised by a farmer until the bird is about ready to lay eggs.) “I think it’s going to be more challenging to find chicks and pullets this…...

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Feb 25, 2025
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goldenrod with grass-carrying wasp, ground yellowjackets and sweat bee in Amherst NY

Beyond milkweed: aim for native plants throughout our growing season

by Connie Oswald Stofko You may already have some milkweed and other native plants in your summer garden. Can you try for a loftier goal? Here’s a suggestion from Kim Eierman, an environmental horticulturist and ecological landscape designer: Have three native plants blooming in your garden at any time throughout our entire growing season. “Pollinators don’t all wake up on the same day,” Eierman said. “What if all you had in your garden was milkweed?” In early spring, when we…...

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Feb 25, 2025
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animal tracks in snow

Who has been in your garden? See winter tracks

by Connie Oswald Stofko If you’re like me, anytime you see tracks in the snow, especially if they are near a plant that has been nibbled on, you assume it’s rabbits. But sometimes I get surprised—we occasionally have deer, too. Or the random skunk. How can you tell what has been in your garden? You can get help with these Winter Tracks from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In addition to drawings, there’s helpful text, too. For…...

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Feb 11, 2025
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cover of book "Gardening for Moths"

Moth gardens, hardiness zones and more from Master Gardeners

Master Gardeners in Erie and Orleans counties share tips on moth gardens, what to do in your gardens now, a reminder about hardiness zones and more. Moth gardens Here’s a review on the book Gardening for Moths, a regional guide. The spectacular photos drew her in, but the text is attention grabbing, too, said Lyn Chimera, Master Gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Erie County. Moths are responsible for a tremendous amount of pollination. We think about butterfly gardens, but…...

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Feb 4, 2025
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flock of ducks in Williamsville NY

UPDATE: What you need to know about bird flu

Jan. 30, 2025: There’s a new web-based form for you to report suspected cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in wild birds. The new link for reporting observations can be found on DEC’s the Animal Diseases webpage of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Of particular interest are reports of suspected outbreaks in all species of waterfowl, raptors, crows, shorebirds, and other waterbirds such as gulls, loons and herons. These species are known HPAI vectors, particularly vulnerable to the disease. The…...

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Jan 28, 2025
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bumblebee eating on black-eyed Susan

Sign up now for course from Pollinator Partnership

Get scientific know-how through the Pollinator Steward Certification from Pollinator.org. This course is ideal for home gardeners, land managers (large and small), farmers and anyone that wants to do more to support pollinators. Topics include an introduction to the world of pollinators, how they live and thrive, and how we all can help. Details will be provided on habitat creation for pollinators in many landscapes, including parks, rights-of-way, urban gardens and farms. Additional information on pollinator identification and how to…...

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Nov 19, 2024
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swallowtail butterfly in Amherst NY copyright Stofko

Leaf litter isn’t trash—it’s gold!

by Connie Oswald Stofko “One of the craziest things people do is to rake up leaves and put them in a bag,” said Tom Kerr, senior naturalist at Buffalo Audubon Society. “Leaf litter is important, but some people scoop it up and throw it away!” Why you should leave the leaves Remember the food chain in science class? A plant is food for a certain insect, and that insect is food for a bird, and so on. If you took…...

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Oct 29, 2024
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little brown bat

Bat Week! Why you should help

Bats are insect-eating machines, eating thousands of flying insects in a single night! That’s one reason why gardeners should help bats. And one way you can help bats is by planting a pollinator garden. The plants attract insects, and the insects pollinate the plants. Bats are a player in that, too, by keeping the insect population in check. We have nine species of bats in New York State and they all eat insects, according to the New York State Department…...

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Oct 22, 2024
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