August 11, 2025

Kriselle and I had an easy-going morning removing a whole bag full of hedge parsley & DSV seed pods! The sumacs were out, the cicadias were humming and Kriselle taught me about a native plant that is in abundance at Betty - the virginia stickseed. Check out our iNaturalist page if you're curious what it looks like and to see what else we have come across up until now. The ravine felt cooler when we were in the shade and the mosquitos were eerily not around, so conditions were better than expected given the heat. Kriselle remarked how she's noticing an improvement from last year - we are noticing less invasive plants this year! At a time when it seems to be hard to find good news, we left on a high note knowing that our actions are having a visible impact. 

As though that wasn't enough, the highlights of the morning were definitely spotting a cardinal and a Cooper's hawk! In 2022 when we first started, we found a Cooper's hawk nest close to the Japanese Knotweed patch. We will be revisiting that area for another clipping and will take a look to see if it is still there (from a respectful distance). Come join us next week to find out just how big Japanese Knotweed can get, learn more about plants & restoring biodiversity, and have a chance at seeing the Cooper's hawk for yourself!