Tuesday, October 27, 2015


Saturday, October 17 was a spectacular day in a month full of them. 

Students from Sandy Spring Friends School , led by my former tennis coach and family friend Bim Shauffler, joined Congress Heights residents Erick Whitaker, Tristan Dewar, Jonathan Taylor, and Ellen Williams on the hillside below Lebaum Street, where we removed 40 bags of trash.   

Mark your calendars now for the second Saturday or every month in 2016. We need all hands on deck from 11 am to 1 pm on




Saturday, January 9
Saturday, February 13
Saturday, March 12
Saturday, April 9
Saturday, May 14
Saturday, June 11
Saturday, July 9
Saturday, August 13
Saturday, September 10
Saturday, October 15
Saturday, November 12
Saturday, December 10

We are still meeting at the picnic area near the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Avenues SE. For your GPS, you can use the address 555 Newcomb Street SE.

We will be working on rugged, uneven terrain in the woods. All volunteers should wear boots, full-length pants, and clothes that can get dirty.

Monday, October 5, 2015

How many of these native animals have you seen?

After years of displaying limited and out-of-date information, National Capital Parks-East has finally begun to update its official Shepherd Parkway website. Although some of the links lead to blank pages, there are two exciting new features: a 1,700 word historical narrative and an excellent 29-page wildlife guide

Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing selections of this new content.

The following is a list of the species featured in the wildlife guide. How many of them have you seen?

Reptiles
Eastern Worm Snake
Northern Copperhead Snake
Northern Scarlet Snake (rare)
Northern Black Racer


Eastern Rattlesnake
Red Corn Snake
Eastern Garter Snake
Rough Green Snake
Five-Lined Skinky
Eastern Box Turtle

Amphibians
Northern Red Salamander
Three-Lined Salamander

Mammals
Virginia Opossum
White Footed Mouse
Racoon
White-Tailed Deer
Groundhog
Eastern Gray Fox

Birds
Wild Turkey
Sharp-Shinned Hawk
Wood Thrush
Bald Eagle