GINLC Newsletter: Nature Area Update

Thank you, Tricia Lukasik, who arrived early in the morning on our two clean up days in April and weeded the rock garden near the parking lot. Vic Lenhart brought his tools and leveled the plank on one of the picnic tables. The Kayak group cleaned the shoreline and deposited the litter, including many tires, onto Ingo Hasserodt's trailer. Later, the full load was taken to the Friends of Detroit River collection site. Woodchips were placed and some trails cleaned from the winter debris. The Nature Area was ready for opening day.

The weather in the first weeks of May was not friendly - visitors stayed away. But May 13th turned into a wonderful experience for 1st graders from Meek Elementary school in Inkster. Their visit was sponsored through a grant and the kids carried a small jar to collect "things." As one can imagine, many of the lids were lost during the scavenger hunt, because of the excitement. They noticed many things, but the most fun was digging in the woodchips where they found sow bugs (isopods), spiders, earthworms, etc.

May 22nd was another busy day. Cari Thiel and four of her art teacher friends from various Downriver schools visited the site to find inspiration and ideas for their student teachings during the next school year. Bruce Jones gave them a wonderful tour they will not forget.

The same day, GINLC board member Terry Laesser and 32 of her 10th grade students from Dearborn arrived on a bus. After walking and learning, they ate lunch and left. As some girls explained, they really enjoyed looking at the water.

Because of the higher water this spring, the Spotted Gar Pikes traveled through the culvert at Gibraltar Bay and made it all the way to the Observation Deck, east of the lagoon. A visitor notified us about their location on May 29th.

Wildlife photographer Karen Skrocki visits often. Many times her husband Al accompanies her and while she patiently waits for the right moment to take a picture, he is not idle. With a garbage bag in hand, he collects debris from the shoreline. Thank you, Al - it really helps us a lot.

The turtles were busy this year, but we are sad to report, in one small area predators found nine of the nests and all eggs were destroyed.

We are still looking for hosts, who wish to donate 2 hours of their time either on Thursday evenings or Saturdays. For questions, please call 734-671-5089. We hope to see you some day.

photos by Margarete Hasserodt