Category: Wildlife

Raising Atala Butterflies Year-Round: The Final Stretch

by Vilma Valdes
August 23, 2024

Nectar Year Round It is easier to provide butterflies nectar in the spring and summer when many plants are in bloom. Yet, pollinators need nectar in the fall and winter months too. An Atala colony is no exception. Plants that feed these butterflies ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Wildlife
Tags: Atala Butterflies, Florida Friendly Landscape, Florida Friendly Plants, Miami-Dade, UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round, Fifth Blog

by Vilma Valdes
July 24, 2024

Home Sweet Home: While preparing my garden for Atala butterflies, the garden’s ecosystem improved, benefiting other wildlife. The garden has more native nectar plant varieties and shade areas. I did not realize butterflies also seek shelter ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Wildlife
Tags: Atala Butterflies, Master Gardener, Miami-Dade, Natural Resources, South Florida, UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension, Wild Life

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round, Fourth Blog

by Vilma Valdes
June 17, 2024

In-A-Pinch Preventative Measures Transfer and Retransfer: A great help to the coonties during the Atalas’ peak munching period is to transfer the bigger caterpillars from the newer growth to older leaves or to a bigger plant that is better ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, NATURAL RESOURCES, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: #wildlife, Florida, Florida Friendly Landscape, Homestead, Miami-Dade, South Florida, UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round, Third Blog

by Vilma Valdes
May 17, 2024

In-A-Pinch Preventative Measures The Other Cycads: In my early years of Atala butterfly gardening I would panic during their peak caterpillar munching phase. Fearing I would run out of coonties, I planted other cycads to alleviate the ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, NATURAL RESOURCES, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Florida, Home Landscaping, Master Gardener, Miami, Miami-Dade, Miami-Dade Extension, Natural Resources, Wild Life

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round, Second Blog

by Vilma Valdes
April 24, 2024

Coontie Plant Care South Florida’s Wet and Dry Seasons: Coonties start to flush out new growth with warming temperatures in March through May and continue to do so during our rainy season, which runs June through September. Each plant ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, NATURAL RESOURCES, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Florida, Home Landscaping, Master Gardener, Miami, Miami-Dade, Natural Resources, Wild Life

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round

by Vilma Valdes
March 21, 2024

The Starting Point A common mistake first time Atala butterfly gardeners make, me included, is to suppose that what we did to raise other butterflies, e.g. Zebra, Fritillary, or Monarch butterflies will work the same with Atalas. Unfortunately, ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, NATURAL RESOURCES, Wildlife
Tags: Florida, Home Landscaping, Miam-Dade Extension, Miami-Dade, Natural Resources, Wild Life

January 5-National Bird Day

by Ana Zangroniz
January 5, 2023

The bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word! This might be a hook line in a reasonably famous 1997 Timbaland & Magoo song, but it also rings true in Florida. Our state hosts a myriad of ecosystems that are home to numerous bird species. ... READ MORE

Category: NATURAL RESOURCES, Wildlife
Tags: Birding, Birds, Florida Sea Grant, Protecting Wildlife

Two Years Into the Manatee Unusual Mortality Event

by Ana Zangroniz
December 20, 2022

Since 2020, our state marine mammal, the manatee has been experiencing an Unusual Mortality Event (UME), meaning that unusually high numbers of these animals have died. These deaths have been centered on the Atlantic coast in Florida, namely, ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, NATURAL RESOURCES, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Florida Sea Grant, Manatee, Protecting Wildlife, Water

Inaugural season of FHCW wraps up successfully

by Ana Zangroniz
November 10, 2022

Earlier in 2022, the Florida Sea Grant Extension Program in Miami-Dade County launched Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch (FHCW), a program designed to capture data about local horseshoe crab populations. Prior to the expansion of this citizen science ... READ MORE

Category: , Coasts & Marine, Conservation, NATURAL RESOURCES, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Crabs, Florida Sea Grant, Horseshoe Crabs, Marine Ecosystems, Sea Grant

October 2022 Biscayne Bay fish kill

by Ana Zangroniz
October 21, 2022

Update: Tuesday, October 25, 2022 In about one weeks' time, the North Biscayne Bay fish kill event is now over. The collective response efforts of the multiple organizations listed below in the original post revealed the consistently higher ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, Conservation, NATURAL RESOURCES, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Fish, Fish Kill, Florida Sea Grant, Nature Conservation

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