Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today was warm and muggy.  It stormed midday, then cleared up somewhat later.

I fed the birds.

I put out water for the birds.

At dusk, loads of fireflies are coming out.  :D  I've seen at least one bat too. 

Comments

[berryfairyghost]

Lovely! Through the decades, back home in Puerto Rico the urban/sub-urban firefly population dwindled. So it's always such a delight to see them! :) Sounds like a lovely evening.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm in central Illinois. I garden for wildlife. There are masses of fireflies out tonight. :D There are fewer over the monocrop fields, but still some.

Yes, fireflies in particular and insects in general are dwindling. Habitat loss, climate change, and pesticides are leading factors. But insect populations are also plummeting in protected areas, so that's a concern -- if we can't maintain them in protected areas, we are really screwed.

Re: Thoughts

[berryfairyghost]

Knowing insect numbers are decreasing in protected areas as well is so alarming. :( I truly hope the next administration takes climate crisis and conservation way more seriously.

For what it's worth, I'm glad you can enjoy the firefly presence this Summer! I will live vicariously through your experience ☆☆☆

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Knowing insect numbers are decreasing in protected areas as well is so alarming. :(

This is the article that snagged my attention:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/03/climate-species-collapse-ecology-insects-nature-reserves-aoe

>>I truly hope the next administration takes climate crisis and conservation way more seriously.<<

We are rapidly running out of time.

>>For what it's worth, I'm glad you can enjoy the firefly presence this Summer! I will live vicariously through your experience ☆☆☆ <<

I found a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k72jGJTC_3o

[enchanted_jae]

I have yet to see any fireflies, and the last bat I saw was the one I had to yeet out of the house. LOL!

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm not sure where our bats live, but there are old buildings in the area or trees with dead limbs and loose bark here in the yard.

[vaa]

oooh, fireflies, pretty. never seen em.

as for bats, they say we have em at aspen. have walked there a lot. they put up this big walkthroughtheswamp thingie. i guess you need to be there at night.

dont want em drinkin meblood tho! but i guess its fruitbats. except we dont have much fruit there. berrybats?

yes, in the morning (4 o clock) it was actually tropical. all sticky and stuff. now its cold again.

when i lived in kristianstad. they had this bird (tofsvippa?) which sorta sounded like an old computer game. was real trippy.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

In Illinois, all the bats are insectivores. When I watch, I can see them swerve to catch bugs.

I have only seen fruit bats in zoos -- they're huge with cute foxy faces.

Vampire bats live only in Central and South America.

[moonhare]

I’ve only seen our bats once this month, back on June 8th; three were out that evening, swerving and diving over the house and garden.

Fireflies began on the 7th, but have only gotten more active the past three nights. Weather here has been cool, in the lower 60s in the evenings. We have both green and orange/yellow fireflies, the latter being the more recent variety.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

When I was little, we only had yellow fireflies. Then green ones started appearing, and are now common. I haven't seen orange-tinted ones though.