Forwarded message:
Hello Volunteers and Supporters of the North Mississippi Regional Park,
Firstly, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone for your
support of our park and the rookery after the May 22nd tornado.
Secondly, we apologize that it has taken awhile to contact many of you.
We were out of power for almost a full week after the storm and have
lost many trees and, as many of you already know, our heron rookery.
Hopefully you have seen the news clips and newspaper articles about the
rookery and heron chicks. I am happy to report to you that many of our
adult birds have relocated down river to two islands near Marshal
Terrace Park located on NE Marshal St. just off of Saint Anthony
Parkway. There are two islands, one can be seen from the Marshal Terrace
Park river stairway, and at least two newly built nests with herons
sitting can be seen from this location. If you decide to go and view the
Blue Herons new location please be advised that it is down some steep
stairs that are incomplete at the bottom and appear to end straight into
the river. Please be cautious and bring a friend with if possible.
The chicks that were rescued and sent to the Wildlife Rehabilitation
Center are doing well and growing strong. You can see updates of them on
their website at www.wrcmn.org and see a video of the chicks at
http://www.youtube.com/user/WRCMN#p/a/u/0/TgQhwLHxWgs. WRC staff plan on
releasing the birds in Northeast Minneapolis and will tell us in advance
when and where this is going to take place. We will keep you updated!
We are looking into the possibility of Great Blue Heron nesting
platforms being put on the island. So far it is just in investigation
stage, but we will also keep you posted on this.
More exciting news includes that our paths are being cleared of trees
and debris!! Yesterday trucks came and started the process and are
continuing their clean up today. We also had many volunteers from
General Mills Nature Valley Snack Division and Wilderness Inquiry staff
come and remove invasive plant species from our prairie and wooded
areas. The park is getting quiet the face-lift!! Come and check it out!
We will be hosting some of the "Juneteenth" celebration activities this
Saturday and welcome you to come and join the fun. We hope to see you
soon and will keep you updated.
Thank you again for your support and remember to stop in and say hello.
Sincerely,
Kelsey Olson
Interpretive Naturalist
on behalf of all North Mississippi Regional Park and Kroening
Interpretive Center Staff
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