STL Open Yards, Results Update, Participant Spotlight, Bee Photography & iNat Tips
THIS Weekend: STL Open Yards
This weekend July 8-10, 30 different native gardens are open for public view. STL Open Yards is a fantastic way to get inspiration and chat with the garden owners about how they transformed their yards. Registration and small fee ($5 per garden) are required, but it will be worth it. The line-up is incredible, including Shutterbee participants Lisa and Don Knobbe, Christy and Randy Moore, Don Richardson, Jan Ward, Joan Ziskind, Susie Van de Riet and Dan Brassil!
New on our Website: A Results Section!
Shutterbee participants, check out the new section of the Login page with updates on our research results to date. Learned more about how bee behavior changes with urbanization in St. Louis. Cheyenne Davis (with Robin Goodfellow) and Josh Felton are currently preparing their presentations for the Botanical Society of America Meeting at the end of this month. Once those are complete, we will share them with you as well!
Participant Spotlight: Lisa Brunette
Shutterbee participant, Lisa Brunette, has been with our program since we started in 2020. She shared her thoughts on her Shutterbee experience last fall (read more here) and has been a champion for native gardening for years. Recently, her Bring Conservation Home platinum-certified garden was featured in the national newsletter for Wild Ones! You can download the article here or check it out on her webpage. She provides lot of additional insights and resources on her website. We enjoy reading her updates, and we hope you do, too!
Check out this presentation by Heather Holm through the Ohio State University. She has lots of great tips for photographing bees as they fly. She also discusses many of the ways she and others are using iNaturalist.
News You Can Use
This is going to be a new item that will be included in every newsletter. It will feature a tip, an event happening in the community, or something else that you can use to further your learning if you want. If you come up with an ingenious methodology, big or small, or hear of a cool talk happening, let us know! For our inaugural post we present…(drumroll please)….
BEE PHOTOGRAPH TIPS FROM HEATHER HOLM
HOW TO CHANGE THE DEFAULT SETTINGS ON INATURALIST
Many bees do not have common names, so it is good to get familiar with their scientific names. One of the best ways to do this, is on iNaturalist have the scientific name on top, followed by the common name.
1. Log into iNaturalist on the browser on your computer (this setting cannot be changed on your phone app)
2. Mouse over your profile picture at the top right and then click on Account Settings
3. On the left, click Content and Displays
4. In the right hand column under the ‘Name’ heading change the setting to Scientific Name (Common Name)
There may be a bit of a learning curve as you get used to seeing the scientific names but hopefully in the long run they are a bit more intuitive. And remember, all scientific names are essentially made up Latin. Therefore, pronounce it however you see fit!
SHUTTERBEE 