Today, we applied the late spring fertilizer to your lawn. Organic Soil Solutions uses a soy fertilizer that is good food for the biology. The bacteria and fungi eat it up and release nutrients as they are needed by the plants. Unlike water soluble chemicals, the fertilizer will not run into the streams and rivers with the next big rain.

There is talk of a recession coming to the United States, but our feathered friends have been suffering through a recession for quite some time. Bird populations are down almost 30% since 1970. Many scientists think that a lack of food, particularly insects is a big factor. Most of the bird species that have declined over the years are the ones that eat insects.

Birds and insects suffer from many of the same adverse conditions including loss of habitat, climate change and pesticides. Insects, however, have an additional problem. Replacement of native plants with ones from Asia and elsewhere that do not support them. Native plants provide nectar for pollinators and the plants from other lands don’t.

Birds feed caterpillars to their young. But moths and butterflies need those native plants to flourish. Ants, flies, beetles and spiders are also losing population. Spider numbers are way down contributing to the decline of bats, frogs and lizards.

According to Doug Tallamy, over the last 25 to 30 years, we’ve lost more than 45 percent of the insects on the planet. How do you survive when large swaths of the planet are being sprayed with herbicides, fungicides and pesticides.

Insect populations can fluctuate wildly from year to year. After seasons of decline, the Eastern monarch butterfly population nearly doubled in 2024. That makes insects difficult to study but that is exactly why we need scientists to figure these things out. The current administration in Washington is slashing funds for research while repealing protections for birds and the environment. I can think of many reasons to maintain a healthy planet with an abundance of diversity and life. Do they not care? Probably not.

I’m reminded of the preacher’s story: When the poor man spent his meager funds on bread and flowers he was asked, “Why waste your pennies on flowers?” The man replied, “The bread is to live. The flowers are why we live.” We need birds and flowers to value something in ourselves beyond money. —Dan Greaney,

Wintu Audubon Society Thanks,

James Murray