Posted inNature

Monarch butterflies and great ways we can help them

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Photo: Elaine Miller Bond Last November, Berkeleyside published an article about a spectacular natural phenomenon seen in Berkeley for the first time: hundreds of monarch butterflies were clustering in the trees of Aquatic Park. This fall, thoughtful reader and independent gardener Toni Cox wrote to Berkeleyside, requesting that we create a […]

Posted inNature

First time observed: Hundreds of monarch butterflies cluster in Berkeley’s Aquatic Park

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in an ash tree in Berkeley’s Aquatic Park. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond In late October, Berkeleyside received a tip that thousands of tiny fish were jumping in the waters of Aquatic Park. Less than three weeks later, we received another “scoop” about the park that throngs of monarch butterflies were clustering […]

Posted inNature

All aflutter: Berkeley insect lovers celebrate 40th year counting butterflies

Anise swallowtail butterfly: one of the 43 species spotted in and around Berkeley during the annual Butterfly Count. Photo: Elaine Miller Bond A hummingbird whirrs by, as a squirrel flicks its tail, flirting. A robin fluffs its feathers after bathing in the stream. Leopard lilies, columbines, even the cacti are in full summery bloom. But […]