Complete the sentence, “Thistles are _______.” Weeds? Prickly? Bothersome? Invasive? A lot of the obvious choices to fill in that blank carry a negative connotation. And there are good reasons for all of those choices! Yet thistles also have substantial…
The Centerville-Washington Park District began work on a Grant Park master plan project in March 2020 and the Park Board adopted the plan in January 2021. Based on collective input from the community and in collaboration with park staff, the…
As pollinators of both crop species and wildflowers, bees are critical elements of Ohio’s economy and natural landscape. Our most familiar bees surely are honeybees, which were imported from Europe in the 1600s. However, Ohio also is home to more…
Picture a white-tailed deer and chances are you will envision an animal bearing antlers. After all, a deer sighting may be charming, but if that deer is a buck with a large rack of antlers, the encounter becomes a “wow”…
We are lucky to live in the Miami Valley, a region that touts the largest paved trail network in the country! CWPD is proud to be part of this trail network with over 10 miles of multi-use paved trails for…
For Ohio’s bird enthusiasts, May is prime time, as the arrival of northbound migrants adds color and song to the landscape. No group of birds exemplifies migration season more than the wood warblers. That family of birds, the Parulidae, includes…
All around us, birds are back in the business of producing the next generation, their eggs hidden away in nest cups and tree holes. Bird eggs are marvels of biological engineering. All of the materials needed to build a new…
Spring beauties, Claytonia virginica, are among the earliest blooming of our so-called “spring ephemerals,” the woodland wildflowers that bloom in succession between March and May. Spring beauties survive the winter as a mini-potato-like tuberous root that provides the plant with…
It’s February, often Dayton’s coldest month. Groundhogs, aka woodchucks, which amuse us with their antics during the warmer seasons, have long since hidden away in their underground hibernation retreats. At the same time, the broad green leaves of skunk cabbages,…
Through the cold months of winter, the animals that remain active in our woods, meadows, and neighborhoods are those with high rates of metabolism that sustain warm body temperatures—the endothermic (“warm-blooded”) birds and mammals. While some small mammals, like mice…