BLUE HERON BLOG

Boardwalk Improvements Underway at Blue Heron!

If you've walked the trails at Blue Heron recently, you've probably noticed that some of our boardwalks have seen better days. We know! Several sections have deteriorated significantly, and we've been working closely with the City of Atlanta…

Restoring Native Meadows on the Preserve

Like much of North America, Georgia was historically covered in prairies- swathes of native grasslands and flower meadows blanketed rolling hills. The past few hundred years of rapid urbanization and fire suppression have significantly altered…
Community Garden at BHNP

Raised Beds Improve Accessibility in the Garden

Thanks to a generous grant from Northwood Garden Club, eight new raised garden beds have been installed in Blue Heron's Community Garden. These raised beds make gardening more accessible for both our youngest and oldest gardeners. Children…

Creature Feature – Sssssssnakes

If you've been outdoors during a Georgia summer, you've probably heard this before: Watch out for snakes! While it's a warning worth heeding, these reptiles are much less scary than they've often been portrayed. Snakes fill an important ecological…

Freshwater Creatures – At Least Someone’ Enjoying the Rain!

Summer's arrival can only mean one thing: a chorus of animal songs long after the sun has set. Peepers, toads, and tree frogs alike can be heard late into the evening and into the early morning. It's their breeding season, so many have moved…

Arboreal Survey on the Preserve

A group of Spelman University students led by their professors visited Blue Heron Nature Preserve to collect tree samples. Dr. Jessica Dunn is an assistant professor in the Environmental Sciences department, and she and her students will use…
firefly

Critter Spotlight – Firefly Fundays

Fireflies, or lightning bugs, begin to be active in the late weeks of May and early weeks of June. Fireflies are found throughout North America, but they are especially common in the Southeast. These beetles produce light in specialized organs…
Emmett Chappelle

Celebrating Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation was officially enforced in Texas, the last state where slavery remained legal. This came two and a half years after the proclamation had outlawed slavery in the Confederate states. Though Juneteenth…

Spring Bird Migration Data Visualization

Visualization from Cornell University of birds migration from the months of March-June As spring warms into summer, many bird species are entering the final stretch of their spring migration. Starting in February, species like the yellow…
Volunteering

Volunteer Efforts Help Beautify Nature Preserve in Buckhead

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution