On Thursday, Dec. 9, SOLVE and FoBW partnered to host a private team-building work party in the meadow for employees of New Relic, a Portland-based software company. In spite of cold, damp weather, the mostly home-based employees applied themselves enthusiastically to one or more of several different activities and had fun working in community. In fact, recently hired employees had their first opportunity to meet their coworkers due to the current requirement to work from home. The volunteers removed all the remaining prickly lettuce in the upper meadow in record time, while another group cut blackberry vines off native shrubs in the upper woodland. A third group planted 35 meadow…

On December 6, several Friends volunteers welcomed 30 Park Rangers to their new headquarters in St. Johns with three pies from Paiku. Their offices are now at the old City Hall building at 7214 N. Philadelphia Avenue. We are happy to have the rangers so near the Baltimore Woods corridor. Stefanie Brown made a beautiful custom box to deliver the pies, plus forks, plates and napkins And Lisa Manning brought a colorful card she personally designed. They were awesome, Stefanie and Lisa! A few FoBW brochures completed the package. After the delivery one ranger even walked down the hill to thank Betsy and Jim personally for the gift. The rangers…

A few weeks ago, late in the day, I was finishing up a “weeding therapy” session along our Baltimore Path on the hill, when I heard a low, guttural call from the trees. Looking up, I saw the shadowy silhouette of an owl in profile, dark grey, and occupying a limb midway up a maple tree crowded amongst the others at the edge of the woods. In 30 years living across the street I’d never seen nor heard an owl, so it was a thrilling experience. Although bats commonly swoop in and out of the Decatur/Baltimore canopy on summer evenings, Cooper’s and Red Tail Hawks appear, only to be swarmed…

FoBW member Betsy Valle initiated outreach to the Portland Audubon Green Leaders, a youth program that includes minority teens. The teens and the group’s leader, Zahir Ringgold Cordes, were invited to join the Friends for the first time this summer for a weekly Golden Hour work party where volunteers removed prickly lettuce from the upper meadow. It was fun getting to know the teens as the two groups worked side by side hacking the tall weeds and carrying them to waiting tarps to be removed. Zahir along with FoBW volunteers subsequently organized a Green Leaders’ Nature Treasure Hunt and planting event on November 1, that included the teens’ family members.…

Butterflies are symbols of freedom, beauty and transformations! How appropriate then that a Lorquin’s admiral butterfly was observed in the Baltimore Woods habitat this summer, and area that has experienced significant habitat healthy restoration and metamorphosis in the past 15 years. As butterfly species world wide are experiencing unquestionable habitat loss and quite possible, a slow descent towards extinction, the sighting of this beautiful creature in the Baltimore Woods in indeed cause for celebration. Limentis lorquini, is the Latin genus and species name for the Lorquin’s admiral butterfly. They typically have black wings with white median bands, and orange wingtips. The wing undersides are reddish-brown with white markings. The Lorquin’s…

On November 20, a group of about 20 Scouts—boys and girls—and their parents came out to help FoBW volunteers spiff up the Baltimore Hill Path. The path was formed two years ago and allows pedestrians safe passage down a hillside on the edge of Baltimore Woods. We dug the perennially invasive Arum italicum (one heaping tarp load and several 5-gallon buckets full!!) and spread a fresh layer of wood chips the length of the path. The Scouts also joined in planting 100 natives mostly near the path borders. There were many plants associated with shade such as fringecup, salal, spreading rush, dwarf Oregon grape and Willamette Valley Self-Heal. There were…

One day there will be a lovely river front bike and hike trail from the Esplanade in downtown Portland, all along the Willamette River to it’s confluence with the Columbia River at Kelly Point Park. It will be an addition to the extensive Willamette Greenway Trail system already installed in the metro area, and will include sections of oak woodland and savannah habitat restored by the hard work of Friends of Baltimore Woods. People will be able to enjoy quiet and cool excursions along the riparian habitats. They will need places to park and lock their bikes if they want to stop for a picnic, go bird watching, buy a…

On Tuesday August 24, a video of a healthy coyote in the FoBW meadow, was posted on the Nextdoor Cathedral Park website! Coyotes have long been sighted in our North Portland neighborhoods, but it’s rare to see them during daylight hours! If you get a chance to view the video on the Nextdoor platform, you’ll see the coyote is a beautiful healthy individual who seems a bit uncomfortable in the meadow and at the end of the video, it is vocalizing or trying to communicate with family members, most likely. She could be uncomfortable because she’s strayed out of her normal territory, or lost track of companions. Coyotes in the…