A CRP CP-33 “bobwhite buffer” consisting of little bluestem and broomsedge grasses mixed with wildflowers. The bluebird boxes mark the buffer edge for farming. We often place the boxes in pairs, as one will usually be occupied by tree swallows, which will not tolerate other swallows but will allow bluebirds to nest in the adjacent box.
This is a buffer at a time when the coreopsis is in bloom. Our challenge is to keep the grasses from eliminating the flowers. We accomplish this by strip spraying the grass-specific herbicides to thin the grasses, thereby leaving the wildflowers unharmed.
Native bumblebees on a purple coneflower that we use in our buffer strip mix. We often find “our bumbles” nesting in old mouse nests in sheds, barns, and elsewhere on the farms.
This buffer separates a farm field from woodland. This strip gets regular use by wild turkey broods who need the abundant insects found in the buffer.
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