Kaden and I visited the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in person on Thursday to meet with Denise, the operations director of the preserve, as well as some of the team like Melody the executive director. Denise was very lovely and talked to us about our goals and why we wanted to choose Blue Heron as our main service organization, which was to help volunteer and give back to the community as well as expand our knowledge about environmental conservation. My main goal and aspiration is hopefully to continue to work with the organization a couple of times in the summer if I have the time, to fully grasp all aspects of environmental organizations and to help push knowledge about the environment. We talked about the different types of environments that Blue Heron has to offer, with riparian, meadows, wetlands, and woodlands, and how each of them combine to make Blue Heron a hidden spot in the heart of Buckhead. Melody and Denise both touched on how they wanted to expand and push the knowledge of Blue Heron onto different levels of generations to come and observe and travel through different parts of nature right in the city. We went on a walk throughout part of the woodlands and riparians, to see the different environmental works they have been preserving and planting, especially native plant species. Denise talked about the importance of native planting and preservation because of invasive species invading Georgia. One of the most prevalent we saw on our walk was the English Ivy, which crowds an abundance of trees and lower plants, cutting off their ability to have vital nutrients from the soil. For one of the weeks, we will be cutting down and removing some of the English Ivy in hopes of preventing further spread of the plant. One of the most interesting things was the information about the riparian, with the addition of two creeks, the Nancy and Mill Creek, which run through the preserve. Finding out about riparians, which I had no clue what they were before, was very interesting. This was brought into one of the service project ideas about having weathering stations to track various aspects of temperature and rainfall was an idea that we are hoping to fulfill for each part of the 4 areas of Blue Heron. All in all, I am very excited to see what kinds of things we are going to do in the upcoming weeks for the preserve and how that will tie into spreading awareness and helping Blue Heron.
These are some pictures from our walk!
The pictures look beautiful, especially the lake! I also had no idea that Riparian was a type of environmental habitat either. Hope to learn more from your future posts.
Hi Khiral,
This looks like a beautiful day to visit and learn more about the blue Hernon Nature Perserve. I loved how both you and Kaden were able to learn and discussed more about the type of environments they offer. The walk you both went on looks lovely and you were able to see the difference of nature planting. This is something I will do in my organization with the Georgia Native Plant Society. I am excited to hear about your project that will look into the temperature tracking within the surrounding areas! Good luck with the rest of your volunteer days!
Best,
Kelly
Your pictures are beautiful! It is so amazing that you are not only getting to connect with nature but also helping preserve the natural environment by helping to remove the English Ivy! I cannot believe I did not know of such a beautiful place that is in Buckhead! I have been to Buckhead numerous times and had no idea such a place existed. I am very excited to see what else you learn and get to experience!
The trail you took photos of is absolutely breathtaking and I’m kind of jealous of how you get to spend so much time near such a beautiful piece of land. I have lived in Georgia my whole life so, of course, I have heard about how much of nuisance English Ivy can be, so I am not surprised at all that Denise brought that up. In full honesty, I did not know what the term ‘riparian’ meant before your post but after doing a little Googling I have decided that I definitely need to visit one myself. I have driven through Buckhead so many times in my life and had no clue that this place was there so I am so excited that you will be helping them in maintaining that beautiful space in any way, shape or form.
It’s interesting to see that it’s possible to have so many different ecosystems within the Atlanta metro area. When I think of Buckhead, I think about shopping centers and malls rather than meadows and wetlands. However, seeing your pictures at Blue Heron makes me excited to learn from your future posts about how these ecosystems are preserved in an urban area.
The boardwalk through the preserve looks amazing! I love that you get to learn more about invasive species that reside in Georgia. I have not learned much about the invasive species here but I am glad that Blue Heron Nature Preserve is teaching you guys about it. I can’t wait to hear more about your project and learn more about what riparians are and why they’re important. Great work!