Green the Square – Tree Management Plan and Tree Planting Campaign
You read it here first! We are drafting a Tree Management Plan for Washington Square Park. We are also designing a fundraising campaign for tree planting in the park.
Event – Bird Program at the Naval Cemetery Landscape
Explore birds with us at the Naval Cemetery Landscape on May 2nd, 10:30am EDT. The NCL is located on the Brooklyn Greenway. Activities include a kid-friendly bird walk and bird craft, with an opportunity to check out some bird specimens. BYOB- bring your own binoculars! RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/family-friendly-bird-program-at-the-ncl-tickets-151729736727.
Washington Square Park Nature News – Apr 2021
Trees It is blossom time! The Yoshino cherry and magnolias are putting on a stunning show right now. The cornelian cherry, a dogwood, has already flowered, but look out for the flowering dogwood. The maples and elms flowered and are now putting out leaves (red maple) or fruit (silver maple and elms). The next cherry…
Event – March for Science Earth Day, April 19, 2021
March for Science will hold a virtual celebration to honor Earth Day this year. Come visit us in Booth #83! Stop by for guided drawing, Bird ID by ear, specimen study, share your bird story, and more. RSVP here.
Event – Get to know your neighbor: The Chimney Swift, May 8,2021
Join Washington Square Park Eco Projects on Saturday, May 8, 7:30-8:30pm ET, and learn how to find the Chimney Swifts that live near you! We will explore photos and videos, learn about Chimney Swift behavior, discuss conservation and have a Chimney Swift craft project. Chimney Swifts are a lesser known urban bird which are listed…
Event – Birds of Inwood Hill Park, March 6, 2021
We will be birdwatching in Inwood Hill Park on March 6, 2021. The walk starts at 11am from Shoraakkopoch Rock (soccer field). Join us!
Your Bird Story featured in Bird Watcher’s Digest
Your Bird Story is among several woman-led podcasts featured in March/April 2021 issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest. Thank you to birder-writer Bryony Angell for sharing our story! The article is behind a paywall but here’s the link.
Washington Square Park Nature News – Feb 2021
In the rush of joy about the election of Warnock and Ossoff in Georgia, followed by the infuriating and terrifying insurrection on the Capitol, and then the glow of excellence at the Inauguration of Biden and Harris, we failed to publish a January newsletter! The iconic Englism elm in the northwest corner of the park…
Washington Square Park Nature News – Dec 2020
The birdy stuff Explore Birds From Home is back! We are offering TWO STEAMy classes this month. Join us on Dec 9th and Dec 16th, both days at 3:30 pm ET. Free and fun and great for 5-10 year olds. Register here. The FOURTH episode of Your Bird Story will be released on Thursday, Dec10th.…
Washington Square Park Nature News – Nov 2020
Thank you for being a voter during the recent General Election. We are excited about the next steps in the movements for racial equity and environmental justice. We wrapped up Explore Birds From Home last month. We had lots of STEAMy fun! Check out some of the objects created by the youth participants. Many of…
Explore Birds From Home 2020 – Objects
Explore Birds From Home concluded on October 30, 2020. Here is a gallery of some of the birdy objects created by the youth participants. Binoculars (red-tailed hawk) Pecking machine (red-bellied woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker) Projectile machine / catapult (Cooper’s hawk) Hidden bird / camouflage (brown creeper
Washington Square Park Nature News – Oct 2020
This initiative is led by a Black woman and its bird program is run by a white woman accomplice. Black Lives Matter to us, still! We encourage you to complete the 2020 Census and to vote. Vote early and in-person, if you can do so safely. There are three sessions remaining in Explore Birds From…
Explore Birds From Home 2020 – Session 1
Participating in Explore Birds From Home 2020, kids 5-10 years old will learn about birds, their super powers, and create bird-inspired objects using common household items. We kicked off the program on August 25th. We went on a treasure hunt for red objects and shared stories about them, compared a red-tailed hawk eye to the…
Explore Birds From Home
Kids 5-10 years old, join Eco Projects + KoKo NYC for free bird natural history and maker classes! We will learn about birds, their super powers, and create bird-inspired objects using common household items. There is a new theme each class. The first theme is BINOCULARS and class will be held on Tuesday, August 25th,…
Washington Square Park Nature News – Aug 2020
Although the Black Lives Matter uprisings have moved on from the park, the demands for racial and economic justice are ongoing in NYC, nationally, and globally. This month we are launching Explore Birds From Home, free bird natural history and maker classes, in collaboration with the teaching artists at KoKo NYC. This program is funded…
Washington Square Park Nature News – Jul 202
We don’t have an official statement about the protest marks on the monuments in the park, but we have to speak out against the defacement of trees in the park. Trees are living beings, not objects, with inherent rights to exist and thrive. Please do not “tag” the trees in Washington Square Park or elsewhere.…
Washington Square Park Nature News – Jun 2020
I am writing this newsletter with a very heavy heart. The racial animus that has led to the deaths of and threats to too many Black lives is frightening, appalling, and maddening. Action is necessary right now. You can call or write to your elected officials to demand substantive and sustainable reforms. You can march with racial…
Washington Square Park Nature News – May 2020
The Covid-19 situation in New York and elsewhere remains grim. We hope you and all your loved ones are well and safe. Our in-person public programs are still on hold, but we have resumed our bird survey and plant phenology monitoring programs with appropriate physical distancing protocols. For official park status updates, please visit the…
Washington Square Park Nature News – Apr 2020
We hope this newsletter finds you and yours healthy and safe. Our wildlife and plant phenology surveys, the EXPLORE BIRDS education program, and related community science experiences are on hold. We miss spending time in the park. We will miss observing the changes in the trees and shrubs, the arrival of migratory birds, and the…
Our Past Work, 2018-2014
The seed for Washington Square Park Eco Projects took root in 2013. We launched as WSP Ecology in 2014 with the park’s first online tree map, WSP Eco Map. The map also featured layer of Minetta Brook’s historic and contemporary flows. In 2016, we received our first permit to conduct a long-term wildlife survey from…
Event – Washington Square Park Great Backyard Bird Count 2020
Please save the date for the 2020 Great Backyard Bird Count in the park. We will be walking the transect and counting winter birds on the morning of Saturday, February 15th. Email us for start time and meeting location. By the way, a Carolina wren (pictured above) was last seen in the park on October 5, 2019.
Washington Square Park Christmas Bird Count 2019
On an unseasonably warm Saturday last December, five observers counted birds in Washington Square Park for the 2019 Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The CBC is a project of the Audubon Society and is organized in the five boroughs by NYC Audubon. We hope to make the CBC a regular annual event in the park. We…
Event – Explore Birds at the MAS NYC Innovation Exhibition, Oct 25, 2019
EXPLORE BIRDS will be presented at the Municipal Art Society’s Innovation Exhibition on October 25, 2019. The exhibition is part of the 2019 Summit for New York City: Fight for Light. EXPLORE BIRDS By Washington Square Park Eco Projects Birds are an ideal symbol for the importance of light and air in a livable city.…
Event – Washington Square Park Fall Bird Walk with Feminist Bird Club
Our second annual fall bird walk with the Feminist Bird Club was held on October 5th. We walked the WSP Wildlife Survey transect for over two hours and observed 23 species. In addition to pigeon, house sparrow, and starling, we saw catbird, creeper, vireo, jay, pewee, wrens, warblers, woodpeckers, and thrushes.
Explore Birds at Biodiversity Day at 6&B Garden
EXPLORE BIRDS will participate again the Biodiversity Day at the 6&B in the Lower East Side. Learn about the many aspects of backyard biodiversity with Melinda Billings, Loyan Beausoleil, Georgia Silvera Seamans, & Amy Berkov on Saturday, September 28, 2019 1:00 – 4:00 pm at the Sixth Street & Avenue B Garden in the Lower…
Explore Birds at Pelham Bay Park Nature Day
EXPLORE BIRDS, our portable bird education program, was invited by New York City Wildflower Week to participate in the first Pelham Bay Park Nature Day on August 31, 2019. Pelham Bay is a beautiful park, and we enjoyed meeting other exhibitors and talking to fellow New Yorkers about birds.
Explore Birds at Practice Space in Cambridge, MA
EXPLORE BIRDS went to Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 1, 2019 for an open studio hosted by Practice Space. We took seven specimens to the studio: American Goldfinch, American Kestrel, Cooper’s Hawk, European Starling, Rock Pigeon, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Would you like to incorporate biological illustration into your studio’s programming? Email us at hello (at) wspecoprojects…
Your Bird Story in East Harlem, NYC
Join us this Friday, July 26, 2019 at the EXPLORE NYC cart where we will be recording the bird stories of everyday New Yorkers. Find us at East 106th St and Third Ave, 9:30 am – 1 pm. See you there!
Explore Birds in Hamilton Heights, NYC
We will staff the Uni Project Street Lab EXPLORE NYC cart at Hamilton Heights cart on Saturday, July 27th, 1-5 pm. The Sugar Hill Weekend Walks will be held at Hamilton Place at 142nd Street. Join us!