Activities and Events of 2024

Greetings!

I am happy to say I enjoyed this years insect season. This October has been nicely full of great outreach and community connections.

I am doing a review of the insect work I did this past season. I hope that it not only is fun to see the connections we have but also to help folks understand how they might use Dragons Wynd in their community.

To summarize my winter

I sewed a lot. I made over 30 pairs of butterfly and beetle wings. They have worked well and look great. Also some jewelry work.

I kept in touch with other aquatic scientist and engineers via zoom. Folks from the USA, New Zealand, and Australia connected by meeting at Symposiums on Urban Stream Ecology https://www.urbanstreamecology.org/ and or the annual meeting of the Society of Freshwater Science https://freshwater-science.org/

 

Feb 27-29 attended the Pollinator summit

April 22-May 1 Earth Day trip down to Phinizy swamp https://phinizycenter.org/   Nearly an annual adventure making Augusta Georgia feel like a sister city. It is always so nice to see leaves on the trees somewhere this time of year. The weather is often warm but not too hot. I was out for dinner the night before the event and a Luna moth had been found after it fulfilled it’s duty for the next generation. I am delighted to be reminded that we share many insects throughout North America. Even in such a different climates as Minnesota and Georgia

May

Consulted on a garden plan

May 31-June 7  Society for Freshwater Science annual meeting in Philadelphia. I go as a vendor and scientist. This year was the best sales year for me. My first year I only sold postcards so it has only improved since then. I was also able to attend a great number of the presentations as the location that hosted us had a good layout. As a person who has limited mobility at times I have missed talks in the past because the convention center has the talks quite some distance from each other. I may be remembering joint conferences and in team work needing larger spots to hold all of these wonderful people working towards the health of the world it’s land and it’s people. My academic family was there as we mourned the loss of Dr Len Ferrington and celebrated his legacy by hosting amazing presentations on Chironomids.

June 11-13 camping and teaching at Whitewater State Park. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00280#homepage

June 26 Dragonfly Bonanza Great annual event with great partners and an energetic audience.

June 23 Worked with the Golden Valley Garden club table as part of a three year project looking at the insect populations on “pocket gardens” or newly planted ~ 3′ x 3′ gardens. I went out twice to count insects this year and am working on the data currently (Oct 2024)

June 25 Helped a troop of Girl scouts ear their insect badge.

June 30, July 12, and July 15.     Solar and parkland Pollinator count with the Pollinator Friendly Alliance.

July worked with Metropolitan Council https://metrocouncil.org/ to bee present for a neighborhood pollinator pop-up info event. The intent was to be available to the neighborhood to share information on pollinator habitat.

July 13, August 10 and September 14    Fins and Feathers with the National Park service. Nicely set up series with a great group of partners . Engaging  activities like practice casting or identifying fur pelts from animals in Minnesota. I had with my Glass topped insect collections and my new activity the insect food tree. I will try to remember to post some images too.

July 26 Park after Dark with the National Park service. A great event!! It has been so great to see it turn into such a wonderful full evening of hanging out next to the Mississippi River.

July 27th Outreach at Heidi ‘s Growhaus    https://www.growhausmn.com/ Fun regular event with delightful other entomologist like Erin Rupp  https://www.pollinatemn.org/pollinate-minnesota

Presented on insects and the great ecosystems we can nurture, improve and create. Attendees were from the area and some were regulars for shopping there and looking out for their events.

I haven’t been mentioning the bug clubs but they happened too.

August 28 and 29  DNR invited and hosted me at the Minnesota State Fair and many others for Water day and Pollinator day. Wednesday I chatted with around 350 folks was much busier of the two days. Thursday I was closer to the stage as there were fewer presenters for Pollinator day. I figured I talked with around 150 Thursday.

September 1 & 2 State Fair with Common Table

https://www.mnstatefair.org/location/the-common-table/

Shout out to two of the greatest volunteers for Dragons Wynd. I didn’t get permission before I wrote this but you know who you are. Multiple years of help and fun times. We talked about how insect connect to our food production and the greater ecosystem that can modify success of growth. Pollinators are well known to folks and  people are hip to knowledge, like planting native flowers, that benefit the health of these insects. We were there to answer questions and participate in conversations about these insects and to share some other insects and the ways they contribute to our food resources. This year I got pretty excited to learn Cecropia Moth caterpillar frass is in the shape of a star. Like a spritz cookie maker cutout.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1457530857620194&set=pcb.1457530990953514

This must be a great shape to enrich soil.

Sunday we clicked 911 folks and Monday 711

September 7  Monarch festival Wild Ones hosted Dragons Wynd under their tent. It was lovely to work for this local event. I Figured I interacted with 400 people. It was a beautiful and very well attended. I was busy the whole time and pleased I had packed food as the lines were long.

September 10 was the second insect survey date for Golden Valley.

Bioblitz with Minneapolis Parks.

Minnehaha Falls September 14, Theodore Wirth Regional Park 28th and North Mississippi Regional Park October 12.

Leading volunteers on insect records for bioblitz. iNatrualist is the platform that is being used for recording the data.

September 25 Metro Children’s Water festival https://metrocwf.org/

Great annual event and usually my example of being able to educate in small increments in time. say 5-10 seconds.  I set up in what they call the water arcade. It is an area, 2024 in the eco building at the state fair, with 5-8 stations where kids can connect with water in some way. Often there is a fishing station where the kids can cast fishing poles. Another shows water tension by using a hula hoop raised from a kiddy pool of soapy water while the child stands on a cinder block in the center of the pool.

It was rewarding and fun.

October 7 I helped a girl scout troop earn their insect badge.

October 8 I started and ended the day with coffee chats hosted by metro Blooms. https://metroblooms.org/ I have partnered with them for over 10 years and we continue to grow together and support each others work.

October 8th I was also able to jump in and help Ramsey-Washington metro watershed district and visit some classrooms of 5th graders and share how aquatic insects reflect water health and how they play a roll in storm water.

October 9th was the most recent Watershed partners meetings this month held on zoom. They are a great group that I like to stay in touch with so I know the current projects around Minnesota.

October 10, updating the website and heading out of the cities to do more outreach and education at a school.

 

 

Late November 2023, Bug club plans 2024

Hello! I have been sewing up a storm! I am working on having at least 10 pairs of insect wings (beetles and butterflies) for folks to wear at events and activities in 2024! They are coming from leftover scraps from other projects of mine and a new hoard of fabric from a good entomologist friend who just got a long arm quilting machine. I am excited to see you fly!

After this post I am working on emails and planning for Bug club in 2024! please email if you are interested to jessica@dragonswynd.com

Bug club 2024 will be so much fun! I have two themes already in mind! “Bugs in my basement” and “Lego bug club”. If those ideas have you excited let me tell you more. Bug club will be held on Sundays once a month from 2-4pm, as well as the Saturday night before from 8-11pm. For 2024 if enough people express interest we will do more than one bug club a month.

Sunday Bug Club is a casual meetup to look at and talk about insects. We wonder a typical city lot looking at the native plants and the insects we see while engaging in discussions about them. Bring your questions, stories, and curiosity. Feel welcome to bring show and tell items. Some of the meetings have themes and activities outside this typical Bug Club, but time for a lovely garden stroll will still be part of the meeting. Suggested items; water bottle, parasol, and weather appropriate clothing.

These themes may change

May 18, 2024, 8-11pm. nighttime bug club. A giant black light shines on a large white sheet as we hang out and wait for the insects to fly in. Even in a city we can call in insects with a bright light. There will be competition with the other city lights but come and discover who shows up to our light. Night flyers like Moths, caddisflies, and beetles are frequent at night lights as well as some day fliers like wasps, lady beetles and flies. As the first one of the season we will see the spring insects and see what changes over the 2024 season of insects.

May 19, 2024, 2-4pm. Bug Club, Basement bugs! Having built our homes into the insect environment it isn’t surprising to have some critters in the house, especially it seems in the basement. Let’s talk about what you have seen in your house, the rules you have for said animals, and what they are up to while sharing that space.

June 15, 2024, 8-11pm. Nighttime Bug Club–Lego and six legs. A giant black light shines on a large white sheet as we hang out and wait for the insects to fly in. Even in a city we can call in insects with a bright light. There will be competition with the other city lights but come and discover who shows up to our light. Night flyers like Moths, caddisflies, and beetles are frequent at night lights as well as some day fliers like wasps, lady beetles and flies. This event will be a preview of the Sunday LEGO bug club. Some built lego insects will on display and ideas will be jumping into your head like a Grasshopper for what insect you will build from LEGO.

June 16, 2024, 2-4pm. Bug Club Lego. I will have some loose bricks for you to use to build your insect (they will not go home with you). A contest will be held for best insect and the winner will get to pick a theme for Bug club! The lego insects will be on display at the July meeting for Bug club. You are welcome to bring built insects made from your own materials.

July 20, 2024, 8-11pm. Nighttime Bug club–Can we get more insects to show up at night? A giant black light shines on a large white sheet as we hang out and wait for the insects to fly in. Even in a city we can call in insects with a bright light. There will be competition with the other city lights but come and discover who shows up to our light. Night flyers like Moths, caddisflies, and beetles are frequent at night lights as well as some day fliers like wasps, lady beetles and flies.

Do we find insects on the flowers at night? Does this yard have enough diversity in night flowers to attract even more insects? How would you invite the insects back to their/this space? Would a green roof or green wall help?

July 21, 2024, 2-4pm. Bug Club, Critical thinking and helping the bees.  Does this yard have enough diversity in plants? What could be added to attract even more insects? How would you invite the insects back to their/this space? Would a green roof or green wall help? Let’s be creative at this meeting and talk about solutions you have in mind.

August 17, 2024, 8-11pm. Bug club and temperature. A giant black light shines on a large white sheet as we hang out and wait for the insects to fly in. Even in a city we can call in insects with a bright light. There will be competition with the other city lights but come and discover who shows up to our light. Night flyers like Moths, caddisflies, and beetles are frequent at night lights as well as some day fliers like wasps, lady beetles and flies.

Do we notice different insects with hot August weather? How does temperature play into insect’s lives?

August 18, 2024, 2-4pm. Bug club, True bugs vs Beetles. Class expectations of insect collections often need multiple Orders of insects as well as different Families of insects. Let’s talk about the massive variety of insects, where they are found, and how they eat. Thinking about insect mouth parts is a fun way to think about how they fit into the ecosystems they live in.

September 21, 2024, 8-11pm. Nighttime Bug Club. Daylight and nightlight. A giant black light shines on a large white sheet as we hang out and wait for the insects to fly in. Even in a city we can call in insects with a bright light. There will be competition with the other city lights but come and discover who shows up to our light. Night flyers like Moths, caddisflies, and beetles are frequent at night lights as well as some day fliers like wasps, lady beetles and flies.

This time of year we notice the sun sets earlier and we can feel the season and our routine change. How do insects detect these cues and what will they do to survive winter? Bring your stories of how you settle in for the winter, or how you overcome those changes.

September 22, 2024, 2-4pm Bug Club and Winter set up. I am a communications person and love to have conversations and get especially excited when we are talking about action steps to improve our joy in our world. What ways do you help insects have what they need to survive their seasonal rest?

 

So put those dates in your calendars and join in Bug club fun!

All ages welcome!

ps you don’t have to love all of the insects to come. I sure don’t like them all. If you do love all of the insects you are welcome too!

October 15, 2022

Time sure flies for this busy Entomologist! It was a great season and felt so good to be more busy with work again. On my 7th season with Mississippi Park Connection I was able to talk insects with a plethora of fantastic National Park visitors at Owamni Yamni/Saint Anthony Falls. I love being a part of that area and had a great time with the dogs and the people in the neighborhood. The wildlife in the Mississippi corridor in downtown Minneapolis has been refreshing. It aids in my insect themed chats and helps with my connection to the earth and reminds visually how connected in our space we are.

I have been working hard on a great contract I got this year with the Prairie Island Indian Community. I am doing an insect survey working with photos and with a collection of sweepnet samples. The bugs are all pinned and I have just begun with the identification. I am living my best life. I just identified a Male velvet ant!

Metro Blooms continues to be a great partner with insect outreach and education. I am on contract with them working on topics connecting to Monarch butterflies and the Rusty Patch Bumble Bee. It is so great to see this company grow and expand ties to my longtime favorite and home, South-side Minneapolis.

I just saw a Flicker woodpecker sipping water from a fallen maple leaf. I hope this extra inspires you to leave the leaves.

wavey lined emerald
this caterpillar has flower petals pieces placed on it’s body for camouflage.

Update 2022

I updated my linkedIn profile and thought I would post it here too. Happy new Year.

With my Masters Degree in Entomology (2014) I have explored so many areas of insects. I enjoy aquatic insects and staying connected to water, pollinators and the circle of water health involved with plant roots and vegetative communities, and predators and prey with the broad ecosystems we are caretakers of.
My heart continues to flow with the Mississippi River. I enjoy working on the movement of stormwater and increasing available ways to infiltrate soils. Dragons Wynd is doing well as a business where my independent passions make it fun to share insect science with a variety of insect enthusiasts and incorporate our vital brethren, Minnesota’s waters. I love to see how in Minnesota teamwork continues to be so very important and seeing organizations like The Freshwater Society, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, the University of Minnesota, Hennepin County, Community members and leaders, and the Park services, work together. The Twin Cities are great and I believe that we truly set a fantastic example for others to see and repeat.
My wish is to continue to expand my knowledge of water issues and better understand those communities. I hope, like most of you, that COVID-19 quits infringing on plans for travel and connecting. I am ready to be invited anywhere in the world and share my passion and knowledge of insects and the environments we mange as humans sharing the world.
My skills in working with diversity makes it fun in a safe space we can communicate in. Hearing insect stories continues to inspire me to bring out passion in others even if not all passion is happy and fun.
When you have your next gathering, birthday party, neighborhood bbq, garden club meeting, garden tour, insect survey, I hope you think of inviting and hiring me.

Bug Club

What a fun season with Bug Club!  I am so excited to report that I had fun, people showed up and learned more about insects, and it will happen again next year.

I enjoyed how many questions were asked.  When we feel safe we can learn better. It was fun when people had insects, or photos to share as they are such a perfect tool to trigger our stories and personal interest in our fellow animals.

I am already planning on our goals for next year, and ways we can plan and execute them.

Goal 1: Enter and win First place for an insect collection

Goal 2: Reduce animal deserts, aka unused lawn space

Urban Growler is hosting Matthew Kessen and Dragons Wynd 7pm December 18, 2019. Tickets $10

Jessica Miller will talk about insect biology and Matthew will regale monster insect information.

It should be informative and quite funny.

Daughters of the American Revolution

I am very excited and making plans for the 2019 insect season.  The ground is still pretty frozen but the plants are pushing up and getting green.

Bumble Bee queens will soon emerge and look for a good nesting spot.  She is the only bumble bee to survive the winter and must do all the work to set up a new colony. The work that must be done includes building the cells for food and babies, collecting nectar and pollen, feeding the larvae, and cleaning the nest.  Early blooming flowers and trees are very important to these queens.  The better the nectar flow the larger her first workers (all female) can be.

I jumped right into the insects but wanted to mention that this is the report I will send this to my Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Monument chapter as our Chair of the Conservation committee.

I am delighted to report a butterfly sighting on Wednesday April 3, it was a mourning cloak.  This butterfly overwinters as an adults in Minnesota within leaf litter. The females will lay eggs in a cluster around a twig and the young caterpillars will eat together until it is time to pupate.  Many of our butterflies will return as adults from other states.  Some of the migrations back to Minnesota have begun, such as the adult Monarch butterfly.

I am taking an advanced Bumble bee Identification course and should have more to report at the next meeting.

As you clean up gardens and yards remember to leave what leaves and dead plants as you can, this is valuable habitat for many animals and the food they eat.

Bee well

Jessica Miller

The first month of 2019

It is great to be busy in Winter.  I got a short time gig at the University of Minnesota.  I am identifying insects to family from a project working in south Western Minnesota.  I think this will work great with Dragons Wynd events and activities this year.  So far this month I have given one lecture to Master Naturalists, and led 1 of 3 classes hosted at the Red Stag Supper Club.  Tomorrow is class number 2 and will focus on predators in your area that eat mosquitoes, and how to attract them to your yard.  Class #1 and the talk at Shoreview Library were a lot about Butterflies.  Winter/Minnesota insects have many ways that they survive winter. Some migrate to water climates, though many can over winter as eggs, larvae, prepupae, pupae, and adults. Entomologists agree butterflies are metal \m/.

Hello United States!

What a big first Year for Dragons Wynd!  8 new States for insect Outreach!  We have plans to revisit some of our 2017 Favorites in 2018 and to plan for new adventures.

I will be sharing pictures of our adventures very soon.

Jessica