Vol 1. Spring 2024
Happy Arbor Day!
The Norwood Park Arboriculture Project (npAp) is excited to share the inaugural npAp News!
Pete Givan leads birders for a New Year’s Day Count. photo by Adele O’Dowd.
2024 Events
2024 kicked off bright and early on New Year’s Day with a Bird Count and Tree ID Walk with Pete Givan, a local birding expert and owner of Wild Bird Center in Rockville. 17 bird counters congregated at the STUMP and walked 1 mile through Norwood Park and the Little Falls Stream Valley Trail, documenting 20 species of birds and several native trees important for habitat.
Volunteers Saving Trees in Norwood Park photo by David Kathan
The following day, Adele Medina O’Dowd led a zoom presentation on the creation of the Norwood Park Arboriculture Project for about 100 of the 900 members of the Mycological Association of Washington.
Winter events concluded with 20+ volunteers cutting down invasive vines in Tree Island in the Park, as part of a multiyear conservation effort to free trees from suffocation, girdling and certain death in the Little Falls Watershed.
Tree labeling:
Plans are in motion to map out and install small ID signs for the uniquely diverse 43 native tree species in and around the Park, and to create an app-based tree tour providing more information. Long term goals include demonstration gardens, signage depicting the Little Falls Watershed, ongoing tree and ecosystem tours, speakers, events, and research projects.
Weed Warriors Needed
The Weed Warriors could use a few more volunteers to cut invasive vines 4 times/year with a small group. To qualify, you must be a level 1 Certified Weed Warrior, or, volunteer with a Supervisory Weed Warrior. The Level 1 certification simply requires 2 online classes, 2 volunteer work days, and attendance at a field event. To become certified: https://montgomeryparks.org/support/volunteer/weed-warriors/ . Please email Rick M. once certified at norwoodparktrees@gmail.com
Save the date!
Cinco de Mayo Spanish Language Tree ID Norwood Park Tour
Sunday, May 5, 2024,
10:30 AM -12:00 PM.
To register, www.lfwa.org/events/norwood-park-tree-tour-spanish-5-5
If registration is full, kindly email: NorwoodParkTrees@gmail.com for help.
New Year’s Bird Count
1.0 mile / 20 species counted:
| Bird | Count | Bird Species | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada Goose | 5 | Blue Jay | 14 |
| Caroline Wren | 2 | Pine Siskin | 1 |
| Pine Siskin | 1 | Mourning Dove | 3 |
| American Crow | 7 | Northern Mockingbird | 1 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 12 | Red-bellied Woodpecker | 3 |
| Fish Crow | 2 | American Robin | x |
| White-throated Sparrow | 5 | Downy Woodpecker | 1 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 2 | House Sparrow | 3 |
| Song Sparrow | 1 | Hairy Woodpecker | 1 |
| Brown Creeper | 1 | House Finch | 1 |
| Northern Cardinal | 3 |
npAp Mission Statement
The mission of the Norwood Park Arboriculture Project is:
to conserve and enhance the uniquely large and diverse collection of tree species and the native urban riparian forest ecosystem at Norwood Park and along the Little Falls Stream Valley Trail;
to serve as an anchor for significant and impactful ecological learning opportunities and proactively engage educators and underserved communities;
to provide opportunities for field study with citizen science and interdisciplinary academic projects that highlight the web of life of all organisms and connections to the local biome;
and to serve as a model for local arboretum creation.
We will build partnerships involving diverse communities to participate in Little Falls Watershed Arboretum education, scientific research and conservation programs.