News Experimental Landscapes: Alexander Felson on Ecology and Design:: A very interesting interview with ”Alexander Felson, an assistant professor at Yale in both the School of Foresty & Environmental Studies and the School of Architecture, is a different kind of urban ecologist. In his research and his design work, he calls for an ecological practice that moves from [...]
News Badgers, bats and reptiles are right at home at Durrants Village:: Developers at a village in West Sussex have gone to great lengths by protecting species on site during construction and including habitat for the existing wildlife on the site including bats, lizards, snakes and badgers. Amphibian Crossing:: The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New [...]
Wildlife habitat certification is offered through many organizations as a way of creating, improving and monitoring wildlife habitats both nationally and regionally. They also come in a variety of settings from backyards to commercial sites to golf courses and entire communities. Some programs offer incentives and assistance while others offer tips and advice and yet [...]
While you may not always associate succulents with cool, temperate climates, the Pacific Northwest has several native sedums which live and thrive in exactly those conditions. The Broad-leaved stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium) is one of those succulents which grows only on the West Coast from British Columbia to California. It can be found at low elevations [...]
The pink, heart-shaped flowers of this plant define the pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa). While the flowers are not as showy as some of the popular ornamental varieties, the plant as a whole is still beautiful and offers great benefits to a variety of wildlife. Growing 8-18″ high, the plant is a perennial which dies [...]
Common Name: Mylitta Crescent Scientific Name: Phyciodes mylitta Family: Nymphalidae The Mylitta Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes mylitta) is a common sight to the west coast of North America. Mylitta was an ancient Babylonian goddess of fertility, their name for Aphrodite and perhaps the butterfly is appropriately named because they often produce multiple broods each year. Another urban species, [...]
Today marks the beginning of National Pollinator Week, a good time to think about pollinators. Many posts from The Metropolitan Field Guide have focused on pollinators, so to begin Pollinator Week, here is a roundup of the posts. Once you learn about pollinators, visit Pollinator Design and Butterfly and Moth Design for many resources to learn how to [...]
News Requiem for a Moth:: This half-hour radio program from BBC Radio 4 is a delightful blend of science and music, all focused on moths. What’s the buzz – the conservation and ecology of urban pollinators:: “Some ecologists see urbanisation as one of the major causes of insect decline, through its effects on the availability of [...]
Once in awhile there are certain books that come along that every home library must have. Attracting Native Pollinators: The Xerces Society Guide to Conserving North American Bees and Butterflies and Their Habitat is one of those books that should sit on every shelf. It has solidly placed itself as the reference book for designing [...]
Common Name: Painted Lady Scientific Name: Vanessa cardui Family: Nymphalidae The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly is a very interesting species. While it can be very common in some years, in others it may not be seen at all or only on rare occasions. This is because they occasionally have populations irruptions, spreading outwards over [...]
There are a couple of varieties of Oregon-grape, a common evergreen shrub growing in the Pacific Northwest, Dull Oregon-grape and Tall Oregon-grape, which is the state flower of Oregon. From the Barberry family (Berberidaceae) is Dull Oregon-grape, or also simply called Oregon-grape (Mahonia nervosa) and Tall Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Both have pinnate, glossy green leaves [...]
News:: La Petite Ceinture de Paris:: This blog post from Nature urbaine features railroads that have been abandoned where nature has started to reclaim them, with some rather beautiful results. Twitter in the city: The urban life of birds:: An article from The Independent describes how urban birds are changing their calls by singing louder or singing [...]