Back-to-school season is full of transitions and new beginnings for people and wildlife. There is metamorphosis like the Queen Butterfly caterpillars in this month’s photo. https://www.wildflower.org/magazine/fauna/monarch-vs-queen Soon their Monarch Butterfly counterparts will be migrating through here and they need flower nectar to fuel their journey. https://texasbutterflyranch.com/2025/08/26/monarch-butterflies-heading-our-way-as-annual-fall-migration-takes-flight/ Fall bird migration is already well underway. https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-TX-453 To safely reach their destination without light pollution disrupting their night navigation, migrating birds need you to turn off all non-essential lights daily between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. https://travisaudubon.org/lights-out-texas
You too can start anew this fall to make your yard a refuge for struggling wildlife. You can “Leave the Leaves” to enrich your soil and provide shelter for struggling invertebrate populations. https://xerces.org/leave-the-leaves You can also avail yourself of the excellent local autumn planting season for trees and shrubs, giving them a chance to settle in before any freezes and well before our punishing summer heat. Plan now for a new tree to mitigate our urban heat island. The TreeFolks NeighborWoods Program offers free 5-gallon trees for adoption starting in October through March, which is the optimal tree planting season for Central Texas. You can look for Tree Adoption Events listed on their calendar or apply for home delivery starting this month. https://www.treefolks.org/neighborwoods/#events
North Loop Neighborhood Association 