Stewardship

Day 202: Happy Mother's Day! What's that you say? No, I did not misspeak myself. Today is Earth Day, the day we celebrate the great Mother of us all, and I could think of no better way to honor her than by doing a patrol of my Site Steward's beat along Ohop Creek in the Nisqually Land Trust's property.

In the line of duty as a Site Steward, I police litter from the lands, search out invasive species and remove them or report them for removal, make observations of wildlife and native plants, and engage in nature-mapping with my camera. I make contact with locals who stop by, and explain to them why and how we are working to restore this area to its natural state. Today was particularly rewarding for me since I was able to document photographically the presence of Yellowthroats, an elusive bird which has never before come in range of my lens. The photos I took are far from field-guide quality, but they allowed me to make a 100% positive identification of this member of the Warbler family.

This area has been planted with at least a dozen species of native shrub/tree, and the saplings's trunks will be guarded by protective plastic sleeves for several years until the plants are established. Behind me and just in front of the evergreen horizon, you will see trees I helped plant over twenty years ago. As the Earth is my Mother, those trees are my children and my legacy.