Every year a small patch of wild sunflowers pops up in my front yard. And every year I’m amazed at how many living things use them for food and shelter. Take last week:
One flower had this teeny, tiny praying mantis nymph.
This flower was so popular, it had a skipper butterfly and a digger bee. Can you see the bee?
Every morning a small flock of lesser goldfinches hang from the sunflower seed heads, pulling out the seeds. I have never gotten a good photo or video, but this is what they look like:
The birds drop and scatter enough seeds so that next year there’s sure to be another patch of sunflowers sprouting up.
After decades of declining numbers, ospreys are on the rise again. Discover more about how people are helping ospreys recover with the new picture book, Swoop and Soar: How Science Rescued Two Osprey Orphans and Found Them A New Family In The Wild by Deborah Lee Rose and Jane Veltkamp.
In the first part of the book, we hold our breaths following the perilous journey of two newly-hatched osprey chicks. One night a storm destroys Swoop and Soar’s nest and the chicks fall to the ground. Nearby, another osprey family has lost their offspring, but still come back to their nest. With a little help from Jane, will the new family adopt the homeless chicks?
What comes after is not so much back matter as a second fascinating book about ospreys and how biologist Jane Veltkamp works hard to rescue them.
The illustrations are glorious full color photographs. The text matches the illustrations perfectly. Some of the photographs will make you ask, “How did they get that?”
With Swoop and Soar, get hooked by the nail-biting story of the chicks, then stick around for some amazing information about ospreys. Highly recommended!
Activity: Check the status of ospreys where you live.
Growing up in western New York state, we rarely saw ospreys even though we had ponds and lakes everywhere. Now, a few decades later, it is common to find the huge osprey nests atop utility poles. It is wonderful that the birds are on the rebound.
Check with your local Audubon Society or bird watching organization to find out whether ospreys are found in your area. Take a trip to look for them.
Disclosure: An e-ARC of this book was provided by the publisher for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.
Last week we went for a drive and in one area the white-lined sphinx caterpillars were crawling across the road. They weren’t in large numbers, but noticeable. Why were they doing that?
Adult white-lined sphinx
The caterpillars could have run out of food plants and were looking for another snack, but the more likely explanation was that they were in the “wandering phase.” When caterpillars have finished eating and growing, they may wander around looking for an ideal place to dig into the soil and pupate. Sometimes they wander onto roads, but they really do want to see what’s on the other side.
Have you seen any white-lined sphinx caterpillars or moths lately?
