April Forecast

Springtime!!! A beautiful time to be at the Park. But alas, the Restoration Initiative will not be meeting this April. So use the break to soak in and appreciate the beauty of the park this time of year and to appreciate our stunning progress! Between the arrival of spring birds, flowering plants, and exotic plant decimation, there is so much to appreciate at PKP this time of year!

So what's with the hiatus, you ask? Well, April has become extremely busy for me, partly due to the upcoming Georgia Big Day on April 27th, 2024. My buddies Patrick Maurice, Josiah Lavender, and I will spend 24-hours straight in a grueling search for birds from Athens to the Georgia coast, hoping to spot 200 different species from midnight to midnight. 

As we did last year, we are using this endeavor as a fundraising opportunity to refresh the Pendleton King Park Restoration Initiative's piggy bank. Last year's funds of around $4700 went a long way for the park's birds and native habitats, and we hope that this year's funds will do the same. 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgia-big-day-pkp-restoration-initiative

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So fear not, the restoration train keeps rolling! In fact, here are two more little news items to hold you over in the meantime:

1. On March 21st, Anthony Simmons and I got together to carry out the long awaited English Ivy spray day. Conditions were ideal, with lots of fresh and tender growth on the sprawling English Ivy patches that we reserved for herbicide applications. This condition made for a highly vulnerable state for the ivy, which was subjected to a ruthless application of 23 gallons of Garlon mix.

By March 30th, herbicide effects were evident! This is happy news. Since we have already removed ivy from trees and removed woody exotics in these patches, spraying the monoculture of English Ivy on the ground was the last big hurdle for these treatment areas. And this will save us from the back-breaking effort of pulling nothing but dense Ivy.

2. More good news on the press front: my best buddy Mac McCall worked up a really awesome article on the Ivy League's work for the April issue of Augusta Magazine. So if you are a subscriber, check it out! I'll be sure to post when the article becomes public online.

So relish in this lovely April weather and save up your energies for a May assault!