Bumblebees as Pollinators Bumblebees need no introduction. These cute, fuzzy bees are native to North America and are important pollinators for native plants and crops. There are 49 species in North America and all are part of the genus Bombus. Unlike the miner bees from Tuesday’s blog post, bumblebees are social. A queen finds a nest after winter, often underground, and produces a few generations of worker bees over the summer. The …continue reading
©Harvey Schmidt Moths as Pollinators Typically, people love butterflies and dislike the spooky moths that gather around our lights at night. Butterflies and moths are actually part of the same family, Lepidoptera, and moths outnumber butterflies 10 to 1. There are some behavioral and physical differences between the two, like the feathered antennae on moths compared to the club-like antennae found on butterflies. A common misconception is that all moths …continue reading
Bats as Pollinators Bats are important pollinators in desert and tropical climates. Although many species eat insects, there are several bats in the desert southwest that drink nectar including the lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat. During the summer, the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuena) follows blooming flowers into New Mexico and Arizona, while the Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) can be found in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and …continue reading
We’re starting off National Pollinator Week with one of our fuzzy friends, the miner bee, also known as a chimney bee. Miner bees include many species that are part of the family Andrenidae and they are often mistaken for bumble bees. These small-to-medium-sized, fuzzy bees are widespread and–good news– typically do not sting humans. Miner bees are often solitary bees, meaning they don’t belong to a hive, and they like to nest …continue reading
Happy National Pollinator Week! This annual celebration is run by Pollinator Partnership and promotes pollinator health. To celebrate and spread awareness of pollinators, we will publish blog posts on our website every day this week that cover different pollinators. What is a Pollinator? Let’s start simple on the first day of National Pollinator Week. What exactly is a pollinator? To learn about pollinators we first need to talk about pollination. Pollination happens …continue reading
This story was first published by Western Outdoor News in their Eastern Sierra Preview 2022. Bishop, CA The much-anticipated Eastern Sierra trout season opener is almost here! Before you grab those rods and reels and head out to your secret fishing holes, cast an eye on what is happening on the land and water effecting your favorite world-class fisheries. More Than Planting Fish Keeping streams full of fish takes more than just …continue reading
Mule Deer populations in the Eastern Sierra have declined in recent decades. Work is being done to permanently protect the critical winter range of this iconic species. With spring soon approaching, mule deer will follow their instinct and migrate to the upper summer ranges. Wildlife biologists’ research has documented that migration patterns are learned behavior; a doe teaches her fawns, and that leads them to the places they can find food and …continue reading
Sometimes you need some good news and motivation, and we have some for you today–the western monarch butterfly population has increased! Biologists and volunteers count overwintering monarchs in coastal California each year. During the fall of 2021, the Xerces Society counted nearly 250,000 butterflies compared to less than 2,000 butterflies counted during fall 2020. Although that is merely a sliver of the millions of monarch butterflies that migrated in the 1980s and …continue reading
Welcome to Byron Roos-Collins! Our ESLT team is thrilled that Byron has joined us as our new Communications Manager. Byron comes to us with an extensive background as a wilderness guide. He is also a co-founder of a hot sauce business and a whitewater rafting guidebook business. Byron began working with us in January and is excited to join the ESLT team. To help you get to know Byron better, we asked …continue reading
Welcome to Kelly Muller! Our ESLT team is thrilled that Kelly has joined us as our new Land Stewardship Manager. Kelly comes to us with an impressive background in land restoration and management. Kelly began working with us in January and is excited to join the ESLT team. To help you get to know Kelly better, we asked her a few questions about her background and interests: Tell me about your roots! …continue reading