2006 Work Parties - 1st Half

More than 200 volunteers have joined us for the Eastside Audubon Birdloop work parties on the 1st Saturday of every month (even when it snows), starting in March, 2006.  In the first three years, volunteers have accumulated more than 2800 hours on these work parties (not to mention the hordes of other work that has gone on behind the scene).  Here is a pictorial history of what we have accomplished at our work parties.

September 2005

We started work even before the grant was finalized by concentrating on the removal of invasive plants.  Glenn and Bertha Eades got together with Linda Hines to identify the most obvious target invasive plants and get an idea of where they are and the number we have to deal with.  We then determined the mechanics of dealing with them, such as what time of year is best, do you pull them or cut them, how best to dispose of the bodies, etc.  We decided to concentrate on removing Scots broom and controlling blackberries to start with.

March 2006

Blackberries are an invasive species, but one that birds use for food and shelter,  so it was with mixed emotions that we started our project by cutting back the multitudes of blackberries that were choking out other trees and shrubs that we wanted to keep for the birds.  We are not trying to eliminate all blackberries patches in the Natural Area (an impossible task) - just those that hurt native trees and plants.

June 2006

We concentrated on the blackberries adjacent to the path through the Grassy Meadow and into the Mysterious Thicket. We freed up ? and ?, giving them a chance to thrive instead of being suffocated. After the blackberries were cut down to a foot or less, the roots had to be dug out so they wouldn't grow back.  Stan Wood was very effective with his pick ax.  We had piles of blackberries all along the path by the end of that summer.

For more pictures, go to 2006 Work Parties - 2nd Half

All images taken by Sunny Walter.