Rey is looking forward to a new day #dinosaurs #newday #lockdown #insectdecline

Out for a walk with two of his buddies.  Tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day!  No plastic talk today.

Yesterday our neighbours next door had a visit from neigbours down the road.  They both have children about the same age.  It felt so good to hear them playing together!  All have been locked down for 2 months now. 

EM went to visit his parents yesterday near Fontainebleau.  They are both over 80.  They'd had some flooding in the last week and both were a bit stressed and tired.  EM was able to find the reason for the flooding and fix his dad's lawnmower. They are over 100kms from here.  It is possible to make trips like that with the right paperwork and reason - thank goodness visiting parents is one of them.

The garden is bursting with blooms and bees. Even my gardening shoes have flowers!

Look what EM found in the garage, a lovely big cricket. Apparently, 27% of the world's insect population has disappeared in the last 30 years.  Even if you don't particularly like insects, they are absolutely necessary for pollination, composting, soil improvement, etc.   There are many reasons for their decline, but most things seem to indicate that we are the problem.  

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373

 

41% of global insect species have

declined over the past decade ...

Endangered, >50% loss

Threatened, >30% loss

In decline, <30% loss

%

20

40

60

80

100

All insects 41%

Caddisflies 68

Butterflies 53

Beetles 49

Bees 46

Mayflies 37

Dragonflies 37

Stoneflies 35

Flies 25

... compared with 22% of vertebrate species

%

20

40

60

80

100

All vertebrates 22

Birds 26

Amphibians 23

Land mammals 15.4

Reptiles 19