Leaving Pella, Iowa, Monday after visiting an important friend from the past, we saw a tree with 5 bald eagles on Red Rock Lake! Hard to believe that in 1978, the species was endangered and the country feared our national bird might become extinct. We have seen them along Salt Fork creek below us and we have even sighted a pair on our farm over on Highway 240. Lately I have been alarmed about the plight of monarch butterflies. For the past two days, I have gone out and planted milkweed seed balls along fence rows near our home. Herbicides have eradicated most of the milkweed, and the monarch populations are way down. I am eager to see if my milkweed grows and the butterflies find them. Also this afternoon, I located some hollow twigs and amassed a group of them on the log fence under the mulberry tree. Homes for bees, also a species mysteriously depleted. My efforts are infinitesimal compared with the scope of the problems, but I feel I have made a tiny contribution.
