Guess The Pollinator !   Help Green Team identify the wonderful wildlife visiting Pollinator Pathway Garden # 1 !  

Here is “Quiz # 1”!

Greetings B.C.C. community,

Happy summertime!   Here are images of pollinators living in and around the B.C.C.’s main pollinator garden near the SBA Annex loading docks, as well as ones making their home or migratory stop at the Hoffmann Environmental Center.  Later on the plan is to include also pollinators found in the forests and waterways along the John Lambert Nature Trail, too.

Can you help Green Team do positive identifications on these great invertebrates?  Have you seen any of these creatures in Berkshire County?

Every Fall at the Berkshire Natural History Conference, there is an in-depth quiz open to all participants, and a great deal of the fascinating objects arrayed on two long tables includes everything from a handful of mammal skulls, curious looking shells, to botany herbarium specimens, to old bits of taxidermy  —  you name it, it could be there.  It is a “quiz” of sorts!

While in Green Team’s quiz, there aren’t any autoclaved bones of badgers (!) today, nor mysterious owl pellets, colorful bird feathers, geological specimens, and the like, yet, we do have something endlessly and equally fascinating — pollinators!

So, to figure out “who’s who”, older folks like myself could ….. maybe lean towards picking up a field guide book …  whereas most of you younger folks might immediately look to your cell phone.  Am I right ?  In academia, if we do not know something, we want to find it out, yes ?

Yet on the aforementioned B.N.H.C. “quiz”, people are expected to figure out the answers from -you guessed it-  experience and observation !   And just plain guessing is kind of fun!  So, maybe people could try first to see if you can tell … is it a butterfly or a moth ?   Is it a beetle ?  What sort?  …

Sometimes you can surprise yourself with what you already know.

The goal of putting our great wildlife residents and migratory visitors up on our blog came about from the frequently asked questions people have for Green Team; a surprising number of which are about animals.  So the answer is yes, Green Team is interested in all sorts of animals.  We have staff who have helped bring endangered birds back to nest here.  Our school has naturalists, photographers, drone operators, blog writers, environmental activists, beekeepers, farmers, and all sorts of talented people!

When the B.C.C. Library eventually re-opens, we have an entire bulletin board where you can see pictures of many mammals.  And in case you did not know, the Hoffmann Building and the massive meadow to the northeast of it are considered by Cornell University and “ebird” to be sought-after “birding hotspots”.

After all, B.C.C. has a 180 acre campus to explore!

Green Team hopes you enjoy these images of the diverse array of the pollinators in this new garden.  Hopefully the blog can keep bringing you more and more photographs, and thanks go out to the patient people who have been reminding me …   sometimes ,  you have to sit down at a computer … to show folks what Green Team is up to!

In the ” Pollinator Pathway ” garden here there are perennial, biennial and annual flowers and herbs.  Green Team (along with a long list of great B.C.C. people who help) has been working on creating this since 2021.  One of the first factors leading up to the creation of this newest garden was the effort to bring more pollinator-friendly shrubs to our campus, a five year long project so far.  A new effort is be to install ” bee abodes ” for solitary bees to overwinter the next year’s generation right in the main garden area.  It is hoped that more such gardens, and even just beneficial shrubs – can be planted out at Berkshire Community College.

Please send in your ideas via your BCC e-mail, BCC Microsoft Teams, or whichever way works best for you.

If you would like to learn more about the ongoing Pollinator Pathway Project (a Green Team endorsed initiative), the variety of other environmentally and sustainability-minded projects here at the campus and beyond, events including community clean ups at local schools, and the college’s “Campus Race to Zero Waste” competition, please visit:

https://www.berkshirecc.edu/about-bcc/campus-services/green-teamindex.php

https://www.berkshirecc.edu/about-bcc/locations/Nature-trail/john-lambert-nature-trail.php

Thank you for your interest and participation in

the B.C.C. Green Team!

Photographs thanks to Roberta Hayes, Logan Sargeant, Logan Osorio / BCC Green Team.

We may have had a small turnout but we made a big impact!  For 2 hours on Saturday, April 27 we picked up 3 pretty good size bags of trash from Crosby Elementary school.

Here’s some photos from the day.  Thanks to the Crosby folks for allowing us to help them out!

The BCC Green Team has planned our annual community cleanup event!  Local schools and parks will continue to be our focus, and our spring community cleanup event for 2024 has been all planned out.  As usual trash bags and basic gloves will be provided, but bring any additional items you may want to use.

When: Saturday, April 27 at 11 a.m. (rain date 5/4)
Where: Crosby Elementary School (517 West St, Pittsfield)
What to bring: Weather appropriate clothing (jackets, hoodies, sunglasses, etc.)

We will be taking photos throughout the event so remember to bring your best smile! If anyone has any questions please feel free to reach out and let me know.

Resource: Ben Garver Berkshire Eagle June 7 2023 

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/opinion/columnists/clarence-fanto-the-bottom-line-wildfire-smoke-worst-in-20-years-northeast/article_bbeea1ac-055d-11ee-b30d-4fc85295f248.html 

If you went outside last week, you likely noticed the smog enveloping Pittsfield. The smog persisted for a few days and made the air smell like smoke. This was caused by particulate matter, or PM 2.5. This particulate matter is a mixture of various chemicals and some of them are harmful. These were carried here by wind from the ongoing Canada forest fires. Canada is experiencing an increasingly high volume of forest fires this year, and it’s expected to get worse. It’s believed that these fires were the result of a dry season and more frequent lightning strikes*. While the Pittsfield smog has dispersed for now, there’s a high chance that we’re going to encounter more air pollution as the forest fires continue to burn.  

Fires in Quebec 

Resource: https://globalnews.ca/news/9762553/canada-wildfires-rain-air-quality/ 

PM 2.5 is something we encounter in our everyday lives, though not in levels as high as last week. Cars and industry release a large amount of PM 2.5, but not enough for our air quality to be considered dangerous. However, with the forest fires, we reached 190 on the Air Quality Index, which we usually score 30 on. The more PM 2.5 in the air, the higher the number goes. Readings under 50 are considered healthy and above 150 is considered unhealthy**. This can cause health issues in the short and long term. In the short term, it can cause discomfort, coughing and shortness of breath. In the long term, it can cause respiratory and cardiovascular damage. 

However, humans aren’t the only organisms affected by wildfire pollution. Many of the effects on humans are also applicable to animals. Respiratory and cardiovascular problems can be found in animals that suffer long-term from PM 2.5 exposure. It’s even more damaging to small animals, who can have a spike in mortality rates when exposed to PM 2.5***.  

The PM 2.5 is also being deposited into our soil and water through acid rain. When it rains, most of the pollutants in the air are captured by the rain and then deposited in the soil and into natural bodies of water. This can increase our water’s acidity and the number of carcinogens present. The quality of water has an effect on humans, although the impact is larger on ecosystems and animals, who rely on the unfiltered water to survive****. 

Resource: 

https://www.kqed.org/science/1970688/long-term-health-effects-of-wildfire-smoke-feared-with-covid-as-wild-card 

It is likely that we’ll see more smog in the immediate future, so it’s important to know how to stay safe through this. You can check our air quality on Airnow.gov. When the levels of pollutants rise to unhealthy levels, try to stay indoors, wear a mask if you have to go outside, and avoid outdoor physical activity as much as possible. If you can filter the air coming into your house that would be ideal. Close your windows and use fans or air conditioners with filters. Trees and plants will also filter the air so if you have houseplants that’s even better. If you have pets or livestock, it can be beneficial to have emergency plans for when this happens again. Consider making plans to safeguard young children, seniors, and immuno-compromised individuals.  

Although, this disaster can serve as a wake-up call to a lot of us. Third world countries are being affected by environmental issues already; some countries have instituted successful programs we could learn from. Hopefully, citizens will advocate for programs addressing global warming, and push for much-needed accountability. Can we move forward upholding and enforcing environmental laws that are already in place? 

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/margaret_mead_100502  

 Contributors:

Logan Osorio

Logan Sargent

Works Cited: 

*https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-08/how-did-canadian-wildfires-start-smoke-spreading-united-states/102454424 

** https://www.airnow.gov/  

***https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac30f6/meta 

****https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects-acid-rain 

You are Invited!  Take home a bit of BCC! — Transplanting plants in the Quad on 5/24/2023

From: Christina Wynn

Hi there…

As you know, the quad will be under construction for the better part of the summer as we make accessibility improvements to our campus. BCC Student and Green Team member Roberta Hayes and others are spearheading a project to transplant plantings from the quad, and she needs some volunteers to help.

In that spirit, please join us….

When: Wednesday, May 24^th (the same day as the picnic at Paterson), beginning at 8:30 AM

Where: BCC Quad

Who: All BCC campus groups (students, staff, faculty)

Why: You are invited to put on their gardening clothes and work with Roberta to move plantings before the construction starts. For their efforts, volunteers can take home a bit of BCC. Roberta will help guide you through the transplanting process and provide information on how to best care for the plantings you take home. No gardening experience is necessary, and we will provide gloves and shovels. If you’d like to take plantings, please come with a strong cardboard box so you can carefully take them home.

Click here to let us know if you’d like to help!

Please let me know if you have any questions.

My thanks,

Christina

Christina L. Wynn

Interim Vice President for Administration & Finance

Berkshire Community College

Tool List Update

These are the tools and supplies we use every day — outdoors —for many Green Team tasks.

Green Team is currently looking for two types of tools, for Summer 2023 garden and landscape projects, and the Pollinator Pathway Project!

1. Spading forks, four-tine, on strong wood or fiberglass d-handles, preferably new or gently used. 

2. Garden shovels for transplanting, long handled, on strong wood or fiberglass d-handles, preferably new or gently used.

The brands we have used before are “Fiskars” and “Husky”, yet if you have good tools you would like to donate to BCC Green Team, any sturdy brand is great!

If folks have questions please feel free to reach out and let Green Team know.

Thank you, and please send questions and suggestions to Roberta Hayes:

roberta_hayes@student.berkshirecc.edu

Thank you for your participation and interest in the Green Team of Berkshire Community College.

Green Team Blog—Garden Tool Wish List Update

…

Last year’s community cleanup event was such a success that the BCC Green Team has decided to try and make this a yearly event. Local schools and parks will be our focus, and our spring community cleanup event for 2023 has been all planned out.  We will be joining forces with the folks at the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) so a big thanks for doing a majority of the planning and letting us join them.

When: Saturday, April 29 at 11 a.m. (rain or shine!)
Where: Durant Park and Riverside Park (John St, Pittsfield MA, 01201)
What to bring: Weather appropriate clothing (jackets, hoodies, sunglasses, etc.)
Also: There will be a demonstration tree planting at 11 a.m.

We will be taking photos throughout the event so remember to bring your best smile! If anyone has any questions please feel free to reach out and let me know.

Sunflowers.   Growing sunflowers can be one of the most rewarding endeavors when

planting a garden.  For many, the sunflower is one of the first seeds many children may

have planted at a school or community garden, or even a farm if you grew up in a rural

community.  An easy plant to grow — tolerant of drought, beneficial to ecosystems,

providing a nutritious food source for people and animals, a boon for pollinators –

the list of why sunflowers are great is a long one.  Sunflowers are an important plant

worldwide – and have a fascinating story – a story that is still evolving.

Would you like to learn more?

Here are topics in the full files you can download:

(with some examples)

• Sunflowers in History and Sunflowers today.
• Sunflower products benefit people worldwide.
• Sunflowers grown at home and commercially are a versatile and sustainable crop.

• Sunflowers are pollinator friendly.

One of the most promising plants for pollinators of all types, farmers have for decades in the U.S. planted companion fields adjacent to huge food crops such as corn.  They are a food source for an uncountable number of bird species, rodents, small and even large mammals.  They provide links of all types for food webs.  This is true not only on massive farms but also in your backyard.  Sunflowers of course offer nectar and pollen, and not only are they a resource for wild and managed bees – they are crucial to butterflies, moths, flies, hoverflies, beetles, and myriad other important wildlife.

• Sunflowers as a symbol of hope amidst tragedy.

Early during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a video on social media shows a Ukrainian woman bravely on her own confronting heavily armed Russian soldiers – telling the latter to “take these seeds, put them in your pockets so at least sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here” – on Ukraine’s soil.

The sunflower, an ever important traditional facet of Ukrainian culture, has since become a global symbol of hope, resistance, and unity. 

Photo-copyright-2022—Hakan-Akgun–SOPA–Light-Rocket–Getty Images —– Photo-copyright-2022–Ukraineworld.org—articles-ukraine-explained–putin-misread-ukraine —– Photo-copyright-2022–Reuters-Images-UK —– Photo-copyright-2022—Diane-BeZucha—Wisconsin-Public-Radio—Protest–Russian-born-students–University-of-Wisconsin-and Wisconsin Educational-Communications

Download the first two “Planting For Pollinators”;

“Sunflower Resources” and “Sunflower Tips and Suggestions” files here:

Resources to Learn Much More About Amazing Sunflowers

Sunflower seeds – Tips and Suggestions

….. Thank you for growing sunflowers …..

Questions?  —  Want to learn more about “planting for pollinators” at B.C.C.? —  Want to learn about seed saving technique and seed sharing for next year?  —  Would you like to receive Green Team posts via e-mail? — Would you like to be sent the two new “planting for pollinators” full documents? —  Please e-mail:  roberta_hayes@student.berkshirecc.edu

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