Author: news
The Amazing Monarch Migration: A Status Report
October 18, 2021[caption id="attachment_273343" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] How are this year’s monarch’s doing? Join us and National Monarch expert Dr. Chip Taylor for our free, virtual event to find out.[/caption]
The monarch butterfly, that large insect perfectly decked out for Halloween-- or a Flyers game-- in its orange and black cloak, undergoes one of the most extraordinary migrations in the animal kingdom. Butterflies across America and even Canada.
The monarch butterfly defies logic, for embedded in a small collection of nerve cells generously called a brain is a GPS directing the insect to fly from Roxborough all the way to a mountain valley…
Goldenrods and the Last Chance Cafe
October 4, 2021[caption id="attachment_273322" align="aligncenter" width="1242"] Goldenrods, an autumn bloom, are one of the last sources of nectar and pollen before winter.[/caption]
As summer slides into fall, a wonderful transformation begins happening in meadows across the area—summer flowers give way to classic autumn blossoms like goldenrod and asters. These are hugely important plants, as they represent the very last shot that thousands of species of insects have for pollen and nectar before winter settles in.
For bees and butterflies, a goldenrod field is essentially their Last Chance Cafe.
There’s a great example of this here at the Schuylkill Center. At the corner…
Our Native Wildflower Seed Packet Design contest Winner is: Monica Smith!
October 1, 2021[caption id="attachment_273306" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Monica Smith's winning seed packet design[/caption]
We are thrilled to welcome new members to the Schuylkill Center every day! Starting October 1, all new members will receive in their welcome kit our native wildflower seed packet designed by one of our very own Schuylkill Center members, Monica Smith. The contest ran from July 28, 2021, to August 20, 2021, and was open to creatives of all ages and skill levels. We were overwhelmed with the great response and received several beautifully designed submissions that made the decision very difficult. We want to send a special thank…
Liz Ellmann: A Warrior for Wildlife
September 13, 2021[caption id="attachment_273241" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Liz Ellmann helping a turtle[/caption]
The Wildlife Clinic at the Schuylkill Center, the city’s only wildlife rehabilitation clinic, is located on Port Royal Avenue in Upper Roxborough and staffed by an extraordinary group of dedicated workers, both employees and volunteers, who handle thousands of injured, sick, and orphaned animals annually. It’s a labor of love.
Separately, the Schuylkill Center this summer unveiled our mudhif, a traditional Iraqi guesthouse built of reeds-- the first one ever built outside of Iraq. In memory of this year’s 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Center last weekend offered “Reconciliation: A Healing…
Unknown Illness Affecting Songbirds
July 7, 2021Following up on our post last week about the unknown illness affecting songbirds, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PAGC) has released more information on cases in Pennsylvania. The full news release can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/3rax5s36
We’ve had several questions about this outbreak, and hope we can help clarify a few points for our bird-loving friends:
Where is this happening? To date, reports of ill birds have come from 27 counties, including Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery and Chester. While not all reports of ill or deceased birds may be related to the same unknown illness, we advise the public to follow all…
This Independence Day, Plant A Liberty Tea Garden
July 5, 2021[caption id="attachment_272919" align="aligncenter" width="768"] New Jersey tea in full bloom[/caption]
Independence Day is one of the quintessential summer celebrations, replete with good food, (hopefully) enjoyable company, and citywide displays of fireworks.
Here at the Schuylkill Center though, and indeed in many wild corners of our city, a very different kind of fireworks display has been happening for the past few weeks.
Milkweeds burst with pink globes and sprays of orange. Red and lavender beebalm florets arc across the meadow. Yellow sunchoke flowers shoot up and fade into brown seedheads. Fields progress from lush spring green to a crescendo of summer…
Fate of the World Hinges on a Pickup Truck
May 24, 2021Two news stories appearing on the same day last week were remarkably well timed.
In one, Ford unveiled the all-electric Lightning, the latest in its bestselling F-150 truck series, the world’s most popular vehicle for the last, unbelievably, 43 years, selling more than 900,000 of these monsters. And that truck alone rakes in $42 billion in revenues, twice the revenue of McDonalds, three times that of Starbucks.
And it’s well named. Its twin electric motors take the heavy duty vehicle from zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds. “This sucker’s fast,” noted President Biden in a test spin the day before,…
Reviving the Prairies of Philadelphia
May 17, 2021Shop online for native plants: tinyurl.com/SCEEnativeplants
There are few better ways to learn plants than by working in a nursery. Assisting with the Schuylkill Center’s annual Native Plant Sale—now in its 17th year—is a truly unique experience for employees and volunteers alike. With over 200 species of native plants being offered to the public annually, even the most experienced botanists and gardeners encounter fascinating plants that they have never seen before. In my work with the sale this year, two plants in particular have caught my eye.
Rattlesnake master and purple coneflower are both wildflowers with wonderful names that are native…
A Tale of Two Birds
May 10, 2021While planting trees over the last two weeks at the Schuylkill Center, a familiar sound echoed through our Roxborough woods, something like an ethereal organ being played in the forest. I smiled: the wood thrush is back.
The wood thrush—a cousin of the robin and about the same size, but with a cinnamon coat and dramatic black spots on a bright white chest—is widely considered the best singer of all songbirds. No less an observer than Henry David Thoreau agreed. “The thrush alone declares the immortal wealth and vigor that is in the forest," he wrote. “Whenever a man hears…
Climate as an Infrastructure Issue
May 3, 2021“If we act to save the planet,” President Joe Biden told a masked and distanced joint session of Congress last week, “we can create millions of jobs and economic growth and opportunity.”
Words I have been waiting my entire adult life to hear a president say. Without apology. Without speaking in code. Without soft pedaling. Necessary words that address the unique moment we find ourselves in.
You know this column is rarely political. Instead, I more typically offer updates on how the environment is doing in Philadelphia and Roxborough, or share the extraordinary natural world in which we live. But…
