April 2025 Events – Volunteers needed for this and that –
small jobs to big jobs
Contact springcreekforestpreservation@gmail.com with your interest or suggestions.Trail Monitor Volunteer: If you walk the trails, we need your help!
Attend Trail Monitor Training –
April 12, 11:30 a.m. at the pavilion at 1770 Holford Rd.
Duties generally include:
- Choose your favorite trail.
- Walk your selected part of the trail weekly.
- Perform light maintenance such as litter pickup.
- Be familiar with Garland’s eAssist program that is accessed through an iPhone app and use it to report major maintenance issues such as trees fallen on the trail, vandalism, criminal activity, etc.
- You will soon learn some of the unique features of your trail and share those with the Executive Committee.
Work Session Volunteer: Now is the time to get into our “garden”!
Our prairies and woods will soon be bursting with new growth, and April is a great time to do habitat management.
Habitat management can be work such as removing invasive plants, rescuing native plants from building sites and replanting them at the Preserve, keeping the trails clear and safe for walkers, maintaining our Wildscape demonstration gardens, and even trash pick-up.
If you’d like to volunteer time for a variety of habitat work, Preservation Society volunteers are ready to meet you – supplies in hand – and work alongside you. If you cannot help at our 2nd Saturday sessions (see below), we will try to meet you on a more convenient day in the morning or evening.
Most volunteer activities are limited to no more than 1.5 – 2 hours. For Master Naturalists, all volunteer work gets VH hours from the Texas Master Naturalist program.
To set up a time to work, please contact Dana Wilson (text or email) at 469.531.6856 or danawilson59@yahoo.com.
Speaker Series – Nathan May –
The Coolest Insects of DFW and How to Protect Them
Date: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Currently meeting on Zoom
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89187002517?pwd=Ujc1UTEyVjNNbDhUUFJYMjFCV2lNdz09
Meeting ID: 891 8700 2517
Passcode: 212786
Nathan May will help us get to know some of the coolest insects of DFW, why they’re so important, and how to protect them. DFW is home to a whole world of incredible bugs, with powers and shapes sure to inspire anyone’s imagination! You will learn about the incredible creatures living in our midst and all the drama in their teeny lives. You will also learn why it is important for humans to care about these creatures, and what we can do to help them thrive.
Nathan is a North Texas Master Naturalist and environmental educator in North Texas. He first fell in love with North Texas Ecology after planting a small native garden and delighting in the insect biodiversity that came to enjoy it.
Nathan leads nature hikes, bird walks, and classes as an educator at the Trinity River Audubon Center. He also creates social media content to educate a wide audience on the wonders and importance of biodiversity.
Photo: American Dagger Moth caterpillar – by Judy Aschner
Follow the Spring Wildflowers
Stroll through the forest and prairie with Dana Wilson for Wildflower Walks in April and May, and enjoy spring blooms as they emerge. You will see that each species generally has a specific blooming period. What blooms one week, might not be what you see the next week or the next.
In April, meet at the Forest Preserve, 1770 Holford, to observe flowers of the forest before the overhead leaf canopy becomes too dense and shady, and the flowers fade away.
Saturday, April 5, 10 – 11 a.m.
Tuesday, April 8, 2 – 3 p.m.
Thursday, April 24, 10 – 11 a.m.
In May, meet at the Park Preserve, 1787 Holford, to see the flowers of the limestone prairie. These flowers thrive in the bright sun and warm weather.
Tuesday, May 6, 2-3 p.m.
Thursday, May 15, 10 – 11 a.m.
Sunday, May 18, 2-3 p.m.
Bring water and sunscreen. Close-toe shoes and long pants are highly recommended to protect from thorns and poison ivy.
Note to Master Naturalists – the walks are approved for 1-hour Advanced Training per month.
Address questions to Dana Wilson (text or email), 469-531-6856, danawilson59@yahoo.com.
Photo of forest plant – Krameria
2nd Saturday Work Session – Plant Rescue
Date: Saturday, April 12, 2025
Time: 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Location: Halff Park at Ranger Drive
This month we have a change in plans – we have a great opportunity to rescue plants from an area that is slated to be paved over. We’ll meet at the Halff Park parking lot then go to the construction site to dig the endangered plants. Afterwards, we’ll move to the center of the preserve at 1770 Holford, where we’ll prepare the transplants and install them near our newest pocket prairie.
We break into teams and each team has a knowledgeable volunteer, so you know exactly what to do.
For last-minute information, especially if the weather is questionable, check our website or Facebook page for updates, including dates and locations which may change because of conditions. We don’t want anyone working in the forest or on the prairie if there is a chance of lightning strikes.
- Safety Information: Each work session begins with a safety briefing.
- BRING WATER and bug repellant.
- Close-toed shoes are mandatory. Heavy work gloves, long pants, and protective eyewear are recommended for your protection from poison ivy and thorns.
- If you have them, bring loppers and/or small tree saws. (No power tools.)
- All participants and the parents of minors must sign our Liability Waiver.
- Youth under 18 must be accompanied by an adult; no drop off/pick up of those under 18.
- For Master Naturalists, this may count as Volunteer Hours on the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest project.
David Parrish rescuing a plant when the weather was a bit colder.
4th Sunday Nature Walk
Nathan May leads us to
Find the Coolest Insects of DFW
Date: Sunday, April 27, 2025
Time: 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Location: 1787 Holford
Get up close and personal with some of the amazing bugs of North Texas! On this walk, North Texas Master Naturalist Nathan May will guide us through the prairie, catching bugs in his trusty net so we can learn about their amazing adaptations and marvel at their beauty!
Pearl Crescent Butterfly – photo by Judy Cato
City Nature Challenge 2025
April 25 – April 28, 2025
The CNC is an annual 4-day global bioblitz. Take your pictures of wild plants and animals and, using the phone app iNaturalist, post those photos to the Dallas-Ft. Worth City Nature Challenge site. Join thousands of nature enthusiasts in a fun challenge to see which city/region in the world can document the most species during the time frame.
This amazing international citizen-science project allows cities around the world to collaborate and share observations of nature. Comparing the information year-to-year, scientists can learn, for example, whether a species is gaining or declining in population, or perhaps moving its habitat north, south, east, or west.
The Society is not offering specific events. We just hope you can participate in this global event in some way.
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2025-dallas-fort-worth
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