Happenings at the Habitat

 Our little riverbank pollinator habitat has come a long way since Phase One was planted back in May. There is very little bare soil (well, mulched soil) visible now because the plants have done so well (though we did lose one liatris and something that was moved when its neighbors became too enthusiastic). This has replaced the weedy tangle of last year and the black plastic that covered the site through the winter.

The human neighbors report being happy with the progress, and our table at a recent festival drew lots of positive comments, along with an expanded volunteer list. Even more importantly, the site is drawing lots of pollinators and other small living things. 

While they have refused to pose for a photograph, goldfinches are regular visitors to the zinnia patch, where they scarf down the seeds. We expect the liatris and echinacea to start getting some avian attention soon, but in the meantime, they are popular with insects.

This was a popular plant that morning.

Skipper on liatris

Some creatures I with which I was unfamiliar have found their way to our little patch of riverbank. This noble scolid wasp (Scolia nobilitata) is supposedly common and widespread, but I had never noticed one before. Its larvae feed on beetle grubs, so I suspect they will find plenty of food in the turfgrass planted next to our site.

And while leafhoppers can be a problem in some settings, this little guy (possibly a candy-striped leafhopper, though there are several species that look basically alike to an eye as untrained as mine) struck me as ridiculously cute. 

You never know who will be out for a stroll.

Changes

 Today I discovered that Finch Field is no more. Oh, the field is still there, 

and it was plenty lively, with lots of bees, a scattering of butterflies, and even this adorable ailanthus webworm moth,

but not the hordes of goldfinches that led me to give this portion of the Wildwood Metropark meadow its name. I think I know why, and the reason is not necessarily one to lament. 

In prior years, the walking path through this particular field was lined with thistle, a giant, utterly gorgeous pollinator magnet with finch-loved seeds and thistledown for the making of finch nests.

Thistle buds are among the loveliest of immature flowers, in my humble opinion.

However, it turns out that most of the thistles most commonly found in Ohio in fact originated in Europe, and even though they have made themselves at home and a variety of our native birds and insects have made use of them, non-native thistles are now listed as invasive plants, even as noxious weeds. I don't know if the Metropark system deliberately eradicated some of its Cirsium or if natives like the ironweed and Joe-Pye that are currently proliferating simply outcompeted the European biennial, but more native flowers and grasses in a public preserve are always a good thing.

The goldfinches will adjust. I am reasonably certain they predate the European conquest of Ohio.