Local Ecologist

Wild About is a celebration of the flora and fauna commonly found in our cities. Instead of fact sheets, this space will showcase books, art, music, societies, and whimsical objects about urban-adaptable plants and animals.  If you would like to see your favorite urban-oriented plant or animal featured, please email us at info(at)localecology.org. Image: Chipmunk in Washington Square Village Sasaki Garden courtesy of Hubert J. Steed ( source ) The chipmunk is not commonly found in cities but we are featuring the chipmunk ( Tamias striatus )  because of recent photographic evidence of an Eastern chipmunk in the Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village.  (I was told that several years ago, a pair of chipmunks were brought to the garden from upstate New York.)  The Eastern chipmunk is a woodland species and natural history information can be found in this Ohio State University Extension Factsheet . Probably the most famous fictional chipmunks are Alvin and the Chipmunks

1. Wildflower meadow 2. Sunbathing on the lawns 3. The fountain 4. The Gelotto cart

Window Box Gardens showcases other people's small gardens.  Gardeners share photographs and description of their gardens. Maybe we can hang window boxes off our window guards...! If you would like to see your garden here, please email us at info(at)localecology.org.   Today's garden is our first U.S. garden and belongs to Kelly Brenner, the fine writing and photographic talent behind The Metropolitan Field Guide . My window box would naturally have to provide plants for some of my favorite wildlife species, pollinators. The brilliant thing about window boxes is that they can be placed essentially everywhere and that's exactly where you find them. I've seen beautiful boxes full of blooms in the heart of old town Tallinn and city centers all over Europe including Prague and Berlin. I've seen them in the iconic alps and in the middle of Seattle. The benefit of being able to place them everywhere is that you can create habitat in any place you are whether i