PAST EVENT: Kestral Meadow Walk

Folks from FOSC, Kestral Meadow and the Takoma Horticultural Club met on a morning nature walk in Kestral Meadow on Aug 14 under the Pepco powerlines at Riggs Rd/16th Place just north of Sligo Creek.

From a participant: “We had great guides! John Stith and Bruce Sidwell were great teaching us about various birds and plants. This meadow is populated with such diversity of plants! Bruce had a written list of plants to identify.

We found beautiful blooming ironweed, milkweed, Joe Pye weed, three different morning glories….and many others. Such diversity of form and function! I never knew that sumac came in male and female!

John discussed kestrals and flickers that had been seen in this area previously, some people saw a hummingbird and, I think, a hawk. He explained that Pepco agreed to leave snags for woodpeckers, etc.”

Another walker noted: “Power lines and stream beds provide vital “highways” for wildlife. Some birds are beginning to migrate now. Warblers will venture here in September and October.

Deer tongue grass has foliage like dayflower. It’s a native that grows in wet places. And while monarch caterpillars feed on milkweed leaves, the butterflies just like their flowers and those of many other plants as well. Hemp Dogbane is in the same family as milkweeds, and also produces a sap that’s toxic to many birds and insects, though not to the Dogbane Tiger Moth. And some bats make clicking noises to signal their toxicity, just as Monarchs do with their coloration for birds.

Natives co-evolve with pollinators. 90% of butterflies are closely related to a plant species. Pretty cool, right? Bartlett pear, the invasive but beautiful flowering tree developed by the US National Arboretum, is now called Callery Pear. When cut back, it only spreads more rapidly. We saw lots of evidence of this at Kestrel Meadow.

Red clover, Queen Anne’s Lace (wild carrot), and chicory were all naturalized from Europe, although many people think of them as natives.

The boundary between Prince George’s and Montgomery County is largely the fall line between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions. Prince George’s County is mostly Coastal Plain.

Blue jays can sound like red-shouldered hawks. Hawks produce a longer and more consistent wash-waah sound.

PAST EVENT: Stewards Walk in Sligo Section 1

On July 30, FOSC held a Stewards’ hike in Section 1 of Sligo Creek, from New Hampshire Ave eastward to Riggs Rd. This section is filled with a lot of interesting natural history, artwork and Sligo human history. Learn more about Sligo Stewards and their role in protecting Sligo Creek on the Stewards page. We need stewards for Takoma and Wheaton Branches.

PAST EVENT: Stormwater Challenges in TP

PAST EVENT: Trash Action in the MD Assembly

Shari Wilson, Interim Executive Director of Trash Free Maryland, briefed us on the trash and litter reduction bills in the Maryland General Assembly this session, including where lobbying might have the greatest impact.

PAST EVENT: Meet Chris Williams, new President of AWS

Chris Williams, the new president of the Anacostia Watershed Society spoke about his vision for the Watershed, including Sligo Creek. View the video – the passcode to the video is: Z?4Z64tU

PAST EVENT: “Migratory fish in Sligo?”

July 20, 2021 – Phong Trieu of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Anacostia Program described his findings and observations about the migratory fish entering Anacostia watershed tributaries in recent years. View the video of the talk:

PAST EVENT: FOSC in the Takoma Park 4th of July parade

Thanks to everyone who cheered FOSC on! It’s FOSC’s 20th year this year! We’re celebrating on Sept 18th.

PAST EVENT: Bird Outings

May 14 – Bird outing with Dave Blockstein & Mary Sanger
May 15 – Bird outing with John Stith

PAST EVENT: USGS Monitoring in Sligo – data and trends

Chuck Walker of the regional USGS MD-DE-DG Water Science Center spoke on the health and water quality of Sligo Creek. The Water Science Center has partnered with MoCo DEP to collect continuous water quality data on 7 parameters at the Maple Ave gauge. How is Sligo faring compared to other regional streams? Chuck discussed the long term trends and implications for Sligo as our area gets more densely populated. If you missed the event, check out the video on FOSC’s YouTube channel.

PAST EVENT: Urban Forestry in MoCo Parks

View the video of the presentation
Oct 27 – Urban forestry in Parks – Colter Burkes, Senior Urban Forester at Parks, led a presentation and discussion of tree management in Moco Parks, plus green waste recycling, and hazardous tree management.

PAST EVENT: “Spotlight on Native & Invasive Vines of Sligo / Virtual Tour of Sligo Meadow & Restoration Projects”

-English Ivy
-Japanese Honeysuckle
-Mile-a-Minute
-Oriental Bittersweet
-Porcelainberry
-Wintercreeper
-Kudzu
-Wisteria

Corinne’s presentation shows photos of these NNIs. Please pull them from your yard!

PAST EVENT: How’s the Water? Results of the Summer Water Quality Testing Program in MD

Water Quality continues to be a challenge overall in Sligo and its tributaries. But there are areas that are improving. See the weekly results of the summer testing program in Sligo on the ARK/FOSC Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Data page. The just-released Final Maryland Summer 2021 Volunteer WQ Report is also on that page, and on the Anacostia Riverkeeper website. View the video of the event at this link.

PAST EVENT: “Bird Outing”

PAST EVENT: “Cicada Party”

PAST EVENT: “Less Lawn, More Life”

Merikay Smith, of the Master Gardeners Speakers Bureau and the Muddy Branch Alliance board, described the process of converting her lawn into a native plant habitat that supports a diverse array of wildlife. Her neighbor joined in, converting parts of their lawn too.

She recommends starting by assessing what you have already – is it native or not, is it a non-native invasive or not? Take out the non-native invasives first! Some other elements of a habitat to incorporate are:

—Plant a full stand of a native – too little and birds who are attracted to nest near it are unable to feed their young for lack of food (chicks don’t eat seed, they eat caterpillars or other insects, so plant enough so there are insects to feed the brood.)

—Put a water source – can be a simple dish you pour out and replenish every few days.

—Make changes by starting with the corners, and then the edges of your property.

—Start in a corner(s) by planting a native tree – these are the circles on a plan. Oaks are superstars. For example, a Black Jack Oak supports 500+ species of insects

—Then connect the circles with beds along the edges.

—Site prep – build beds by covering a lawn area with cardboard, then compost and mulch, in the fall. Don’t dig!

—Fully research the species / cultivars you plan to plant since many seem native but aren’t genetically native and a host for local insects.

—Get recommendations by zip code through the National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder and the Audubon Society’s Plants for Birds.

—Focus on keystone plants – those that sustain the food web of plants-insects-birds:

Keystone trees: White Oaks are superstars; Native Cherries, Native Willows, Native Birches, Cottonwoods, Elms

Keystone herbaceous plants: Native Goldenrods, Asters, and Sunflowers.

PAST EVENT: Improving Outreach and Inclusion

Our watershed is diverse in so many ways. We recognize that we need to reach out thoughtfully and more effectively to be inclusive of all Sligo watershed communities in outreach, programming and leadership.

On March 25, three leaders in the Black and Latino environmental movement discussed their perspectives on how Friends of Sligo Creek can engage the diverse communities living within the watershed.

Ruby Stemmle, founder EcoLatinos; Raymond Coates, Community Outreach Coordinator, Ward 8 Woods and EarthJustice; and Dennis Chestnut, founder Groundworks DC, and Board, Alliance for the Chesapeake

Moderated by FOSC Advocacy director Kit Gage, the panelists discussed the importance of developing relationships with the communities who have been underrepresented in FOSC’s work; learning about the issues important to those living in the community; and tapping residents to develop and lead initiatives in those communities. A synopsis recording of the discussion is available on the FOSC YouTube channel.

PAST EVENT: How to use iNaturalist

Heard about iNaturalist.org but uncertain how to navigate the site or contribute your own observations? Expert birder and iNaturalist contributor Stephen Davies recently gave a tour through the many features of this site. He used the iNaturalist project “Fauna and Flora of the Sligo Creek Watershed” as a starting point.

iNaturalist is an open-source, joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic. It has world-wide scope, with 3.5 million people contributing 57.8 million observations to date.

Users can upload their observations, keep track of their photos, crowdsource identifications, join citizen science projects, see trends and build knowledge of the natural world. Creating an account at iNaturalist is simple and free.

FOSC also has a page on how-to-navigate-in-iNaturalist to help you find observations of interest and upload your own, as well as a page on how eBird.org works.

To receive the Newsletter with all upcoming event invitations and meeting links, please join FOSC.

PAST EVENT: What’s in Sligo’s Water?

Membrs of the Water Quality committee – Anne Vorce, Pat Ratkowski, Paul Chrostowski – and guests Mike Smith, FOSC President, Elaine Lamirande from the FOSC Stormwater Committee, Kit Gage from the Advocacy Committee, and Rachel Gauza from the Park Dept’s Aquatics Resource Management office presented a fascinating glimpse into the state of water quality of Sligo Creek today and trends over time.

These speakers discussed many facets of Sligo’s water quality: pollution and the importance of FOSC’s citizen-powered Water WatchDog pollution reporting and tracking program, growing concern on microplastic and persistent chemical contaminants, sediment pollution, chemical and Coliform bacteria loads now and trends, macro-invertebrates in the Creek, the detrimental impact of the increasingly powerful stormwater events on Sligo, and FOSC’s Sligo advocacy work across many issues, including against a proposal for use of synthetic turf locally.

We then opened things up for questions, observations, and suggestions on Friends of Sligo Creek’s water quality program.

— The FOSC Water Quality Committee