This morning, a Great Spangled Fritillary visited our garden. Probably a female, according to The Butterflies of Canada, which says males are bright orange, females subtler. (I’m open to correction.)
Although I kept a respectful distance, at least ten feet, each time I shifted to a better angle she disappeared. Then finally she permitted a single photo. I call her Greta Garbo.
Yesterday a Monarch visited. Only one, but given their perilous state, one is 100% better than none. I watched it feed for almost an hour on Brazilian verbena, verbena bonariensis.
A tip: Though it rarely appears on how-to-attract-butterflies plant lists, these tall, dignified plants with tiny purple flowers draw many more visitors than any other plant in our garden. Brazilian verbena self-seeds lavishly, but doesn’t crowd its neighbours.
Perhaps the monarch will return. And Greta Garbo.
For more on how gardens illuminate our ambiguous place in nature, science and power, see Bold Scientists: dispatches from the battle for honest science. Available September 4, 2014, from Between the Lines.
On a summer morning walk with the dog, she gallops, I walk into a dew-laden meadow – and stop, abruptly.
Hundreds of freshly spun spider webs glitter between blades of grass, traced in silver by the rising sun. I’ve seen this graceful display before, but today I notice for the first time that all the webs are set in exactly the same orientation, each one in parallel to the others.
Why?
Are they set at right angles to the wind, for maximum flow of air, and thus of airborne insects, food? Not enough wind this morning to tell.
In fact I have no idea.
But clearly the spiders know.
Explore Bold Scientists: dispatches from the battle for honest science, coming September 2014 from Between the Lines.
Canada’s Science Library Closures Mirror Bush’s Playbook. Details here. More detail in The Tyee’s follow-up story, here.
This is the next step in an escalating right-wing war on honest science and public knowledge, both of which the authorities fear and despise.
Their target, says Canadian paleolimnologist John Smol, is “pesky data” that challenges the government’s corporate agenda. They’ve already gutted a long hit list of vital research programs in Canada, including the world famous Experimental Lakes Area research facility.
John Smol: “The ELA has been a jewel in Canada’s crown – go to any water conference in the world, you just have to say ELA and everyone knows what you’re talking about. And it costs nothing to maintain. $2 million, what’s that, a penny per Canadian, so we don’t get toxic algae blooms, acid rain? It’s like claiming to save medical costs by not letting people have tests and checkups, the long-term data you need to maintain health. The ELA is exactly the kind of thing responsible government should be doing. So why are they closing the ELA? Because it provided pesky data, that’s why.”
(Follow this story in Pesky Data: unspun science for dangerous times. Coming in 2014 from Between the Lines.)
Scientists and other citizens who value public knowledge are resisting the destruction. At a public protest in Ottawa, thousands of scientists carried banners declaring: No Science, No Evidence; No Truth, No Democracy. The stakes are that high.
I have no illusions about the real impact of petitions. But at least the current leaders need to know that some of us are opposed. Here is an opportunity to say so.
Evidence for Democracy is a Canadian organization of scientists and citizens “who care passionately about the role that evidence needs to play in decision-making.” Recently they sent out this urgent appeal:
Irreplaceable scientific information is disappearing due to the recent closure of seven libraries run by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and a number of Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada libraries.
Scientists are saying that many of the books, reports and data at these libraries have already been discarded or destroyed without being properly digitized.
This priceless information is essential for the protection and security of Canada’s waterways. In particular, historical data and information provides the only baseline by which changes in the state of Canada’s aquatic ecosystems and fisheries resources can be evaluated. Without such trend data, assessing the impacts of policy and management decisions is impossible.
Please send a message to the federal party leaders and your member of parliament calling on them to stop closing our science libraries, and to ensure that the remaining information from the closed libraries is made available in a timely fashion.
Photo: MR, August 18, 2014
Michael Riordon 