Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve

#throwbackthursday! Today we are sharing photos of last year’s wreath workshop! Each year we invite people to come build beautiful homemade wreaths. Did you know you can compost wreath greens after the holidays? Check out the DSNY website for compost pick-up of your tree: https://www1.nyc.gov//food-scraps-and-yard/christmas-trees

The Virginia pine, or Pinus virginiana, is found in very southern NY down through the Appalachian Mountains. It is a medium-sized tree often found growing in sandy, nutrient-poor soils; though it prefers well-drained clay. Because it can grow in sandy soil it is useful for reforesting and can provide food and shelter for wildlife. Their leaves grow in bundles of two needles, called fascicles. Pine trees are a type of conifer, so they produce pinecones instead of fruits. They are also evergreen trees! This means they keep their leaves all year long. Check out the Virginia pine barrens habitat along the orange trail. This is the only pine barrens habitat in NYC!

This month we wanted to highlight someone making a difference in the NYC community! Meet Katie Leung, a local conservationist who focuses on research and community engagement in her field work and graduate work. Leung grew up on Staten Island and had limited exposure to nature as a child. But that didn’t stop her from learning all about the animal world through watching nature programming and doing her own research on endangered species. She studied Conservation Biology at SU...NY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. There she learned more about the pressing concern for protecting wildlife and how environmental issues can affect people too. This led her to join the NYC Parks' Wildlife Unit as a Field Technician. She spearheads their Raptor Nest Monitoring Project which monitors nests of raptors, birds of prey like Red-tailed Hawks, in all five boroughs of the city. The Wildlife Unit works with City agencies to suspend the use of rodenticide during raptor breeding season. If a raptor eats a poisoned rat, then the bird can die as well. To help with monitoring the 40+ nests throughout the city, in 2018 Leung helped the team establish a community science program where local residents can monitor a nest during breeding season. This rewarding program helps residents become more involved with local conservation work and helps scientists gather more data that will allow the unit to take proactive steps to support the raptor population. Leung is currently working on her MA in Biology through Miami University and the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo. For her graduate work Leung is focusing on plastic pollution, recognizing it as a local and global issue affecting not only animals but also human communities. She started a community science group called Raiders of the Tossed Trash. With over 20 volunteers the group just reached their milestone of picking up 10,000 litter items, reaching 1,000 lbs of trash. Leung finds working with the community rewarding as she inspires people to make a difference on a local level. Think small, act local she says, taking inspiration from Jane Goodall. If we think globally, we can be overwhelmed and not sure where to start. By thinking small you can have more control over the situation and find a way to make a difference. Act within your own community and have a ripple effect to the larger community and then the world. See more

Use this simple dichotomous key to help you ID common conifer trees! Conifer trees are a type of evergreen that produce cones to hold their seeds such as pinecones from pine trees.

The activity this week is to make an evergreen sensory bin. Fill a bin with evergreen tree clippings such as pine tree needles and spruce tree branches. Add some pinecones for extra fun. Have your toddler explore the sensory bin and practice fine motor skills by using scissors to cut up the evergreen leaves. Ask them what about their senses. What do you smell? Are the needles sharp or soft?

The craft this week is to paint a pine tree ornament using a pine needle paint brush. To make your paint brush, rubber band some pine needles together with a stick. To make the pine tree ornament, cut a triangle out of cardboard (try upcycling a cereal box!). Use a hole punch to make a hole at the top of the triangle and loop a piece of yarn through and tie off. Now have your toddler use the pine needle paintbrush to paint green onto the pine tree! Add a star sticker to the top and you have a beautiful ornament.