A perfect circle...

Since listening to Joel Sartore's presentation yesterday, I've been thinking a lot about what one person can do to help preserve the multitude of species that are in trouble on this planet.  It seems insurmountable when I think of it in the context of the world, and in the context of what people like Joel are able to do.  But then I think about something very specific that he said about each of us doing a few little things ... like stopping use of pesticides, like building pollinator gardens...and how those things add up and make a difference.

So when we got home this afternoon, I walked outside and looked around at my little 3.5 acres of this world and I thought to myself...you're doing some good.   I watched a pair of goldfinches plucking seeds from some of my sunflowers and I thought about the how those sunflowers came to be in my garden.  Because, you see, I didn't plant them.  

I feed sunflower seeds to the birds that have found a haven here, and to the chipmunks and squirrels, too.  Even the occasional bear when I'm not quite on the ball enough to bring the feeders in at night.  

The chipmunks plant seeds all over my garden when they get too lazy, or too frantic, to take the seeds to their burrows.  And then, I get these random sunflowers popping up all around the patio.  Once they start to get big, they become habitat for an amazing number of arthropods like planthoppers, treehoppers, ants, caterpillars, spiders, assassin and ambush bugs and...well, the list goes on and on.  And my philosophy is - "all comers welcome."  

Eventually the sunflowers bloom and then all the pollinators show up - bees, solitary wasps, flies, butterflies, even the hummingbirds sometimes sample the goods.  And when the pollen fades, the birds show up and begin plucking the seeds from the heads of the flowers.  And, yes, some years the bears come around and eat all the flower heads, leaving behind just the stalks.  Well, like I said, all comers welcome.  

So when I stood outside with my camera, I found myself wanting to record part of the amazing life cycle represented by the simple act of feeding birds.  And keeping a messy, chaotic garden, filled with plants that other things like to eat.  No roses in my garden...

If you're still reading at this point, thanks for hanging in there.  And I hope you find your way to do whatever little things you can to preserve the many amazing and miraculous creatures that may be living right in your own gardens...

xo
Debbi

PS:  And in Monarch news, I came home to SEVEN brand new chrysalises!  So in 10-14 days, we''ll be welcoming some butterflies to the world.

PPS:  And I've decided to do a little project that I'll call "sunflower biodiversity" for the next few days where I'll try to record as many species on the sunflowers as I can.  Should be fun!