Butterflies, Birds, Bees, Bats & Blooms - A Pollinator & Garden Faire - June 18, 2022
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The 2022 5B's - Pollinator and Garden Faire is back!  Our event speakers and various organizations (see below) will be your guides for this informative day!  You will learn about pollinator habitats, the helpful native Blooms you need, and the not-so-helpful invasives that threaten these beneficial and necessary Butterflies, Birds, Bees, and Bats.  Find out all the reasons why many are struggling - and what you can do to help them!  You can even purchase PA native plants to help you start your own pollinator friendly gardens! 

• When: June 18, 2022
• Where: Fort Halifax Park Picnic Grove near the Historic Homes
• Time: 9:00am - 3:00pm
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  Welcome to the following individuals and organizations who will be on hand to assist you with your questions.
• Alan Corson, Speaker - Local Monarch Butterfly expert
• Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art - Emily Rosmus
• Pennsylvania Native Plant Society 
• Dauphin County Master Gardeners - Margo Konetski
• On Wings of Glory - Deb Straub
• Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania - Bill Strauss
• Halifax Area Garden Club
• DCNR - Ecologist Nathan Reagle, Speaker on Pollinator Habitat
• Deep Hollow Forest Farm - Brian Scott, Speaker on how mushrooms and fungi help our environment
• PA Game Commission - Wildlife Technician Levi Johnson, Speaker on bats in PA
• Perennial Gardens Nursery - Steve Kidd will have PA Native plants for you to purchase
• PA Bat Rescue - Sharon Agresta-Siekerman 
• Appalachian Audubon Society President - Ali Bowling, Speaker about Bird Friendly Communities
• PA Bee Monitoring Program Coordinator and Postdoctoral Researcher PSU Dept. of Entomology - Nash Turley, Speaker on Native Bees
• Wild Ones South Central PA Chapter 
  
• There will be children's activities, raffles, and light refreshments offered, and more! 

There is no fee for this event, however a donation would be very much appreciated.  Donations will help us defray costs from this event, but more importantly add to and maintain our PA Native plant and pollinator gardens! Thank you! 

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2021 - Butterflies, Birds, Bees, & Blooms Collection Day - Foster a Monarch!

​Participants from our 2021 workshop (see below) also had opportunity to sign up for our Foster a Monarch! - Egg and Caterpillar Collection Day.  On August 14, 2021 many gathered on the eastern side of the park to collect Monarch eggs and caterpillars, take them home, foster them, record results, and when the Monarchs emerged from their Chrysalis, release them.  4B's Workshop presenter Alan Corson and others were available to assist and instruct on how to collect the milkweed, caterpillars, and eggs.  This event was also successful with over 100 Monarch released in this first fostering year! 
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Butterflies, Birds, Bees, & Blooms - A Pollinator Workshop
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Highlights from our June 19, 2021 Event!

The first Annual Butterflies, Birds, Bees & Blooms (4B's) - A Pollinator Workshop was hosted by Friends of Fort Halifax Park, Inc. on June 19, 2021.  This workshop highlighted the struggling Monarch butterfly population by offering information that was helpful to the home gardener, giving information about the tools needed to establish Monarch and pollinator friendly gardens with PA Native plants. The guest speaker was local Monarch expert Alan Corson. Workshop guests also learned from other local experts about birds, bees, and other pollinators, and the PA native plants you need to attract them to round out a healthy back yard and community. Aqua Niche was on hand to answer questions and to help visitors purchase the PA Native plants needed to get started.

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