Big highlight from October is the relationship of Blue Jays and Oaks.
Blue Jays routinely carry acorns a mile away from the parent oak. A single blue jay can bury up to 4,500 acorns each fall, and typically only remembers where 25% were buried. Each jay will plant ~3,360 oaks each year of its 7-17 year lifetime.
I finally started reading The Nature of Oaks in earnest. I made it through the October chapter and took a peek at November, which is pretty short.
So my plan of reading each chapter in the month we’re in is totally doable and will be fun given the many mature oaks in our neighborhood.
I tried to start reading Doug Tallamy's latest (2021) book: The Nature of Oaks last night. I like how the chapters are by month of the year and the first chapter starts in October.
There were a lot of barriers to my success in starting, but the first one was being turned off by the book being printed in China. I'd expect better from a conservationist. For a $30 book I think you can afford to onshore, reduce carbon, support American jobs, etc etc.
This excerpt from #NaturesBestHope is eye opening. Just a few nuggets on how we use our land. I shared earlier that we have farmed or grazed 1/2 of the surface of earth, mostly all that can be.
Now he’s taking about land use in the U.S. A few highlights. Airport land = 2x size of Manhattan. Our collective lawns = size of New England.
See image/alt for full text.
So far I’m digging my read of Doug Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope. I found this bit to be particularly insightful regarding farming, and land use distribution in general. I put the full text in the alt. Might be easier than my photo from the book 
