Update

Thanks to Doug Wood and Stephanie Hunter for the following general update on recent FoDW activities:

General Update on Recent FoDW Activities:

Mark Your Calendar - Saturday June 4 Dicken Woods Nature Area Stewardship Workday, 9:00 am to 12:00 noon
We will spend the morning in Dicken Woods removing the invasives that usurp valuable light and nutrients from other plants, and we'll have a great time doing it! If you are driving, meet us at the Dicken Elementary school parking lot, off of Runnymede Boulevard. If you are arriving on foot, we'll see you at the end of Dicken Drive. At the end of the workday we'll spend a little time exploring the ecology of Dicken Woods. Please wear comfortable clothes for outdoor work, including pants and closed-toe shoes. Minors must either be accompanied by a guardian or contact NAP in advance to obtain a release form.

Screech Owl Houses Set Out in Dicken Woods
As part of the ongoing relationship with Dicken Elementary School, the Friends of Dicken Woods (FoDW) raised $1,000 for teachers to use for special projects during the 2004-2005 school year that would support environmental education using the woods.

One recent project involved the fourth grade classes and their animal behavior unit.

In early January, Dody Wyman, director of the River Raisin Raptor Center in Manchester, visited Dicken Elementary with four non-releasable ambassador birds. The fourth graders got "up close and personal" with a red-tailed hawk, a screech owl, a barred owl, and a turkey vulture. The students learned the characteristics of raptors and the special adaptations of these and other birds. They also learned about the importance of proper habitat and of the dangers, mostly man-made, facing these and other wild animals.

Later in January, after a weather delay, a member of FoDW guided Ms. Wyman and each fourth grade class through Dicken Woods. Each class studied the habitat needs for screech owls and located a good tree for hanging a screech owl house. These houses were built according to strict specifications by a FoDW member, and were put up on January 29 by him with the assistance of several additional FoDW volunteers.

The students and the neighbors are proud of this valuable addition to the woods. It is hoped owls will soon be moving in. In the fall, the Raptor Center plans to release rehabilitated orphaned screech owls into the woods. Because the land has been left relatively undisturbed for so long, it is perfect habitat.

Candlelight Walk Held in Dicken Woods on a Crisp February Night
On the evening of February 17th, 2005, well over 200 Dicken Elementary School students, family members and friends walked a portion of the beautiful snow-covered trails in Dicken Woods. The east trail loop and access trail from Dicken School were bordered by candle-lit luminaries made by the students. Approximately 100 students spent a portion of their recess and lunch breaks working on the luminaries, which were fashioned from either large glass containers with artistic translucent sleeves or from cans pierced with decorative patterns. The luminaries were set out by members of the Friends of Dicken Woods, and cookies and hot cocoa were provided by the Friends after the walk in the school multi-purpose room.

In spite of the very cold weather, there were no complaints, and many of the participants are hoping this will be an annual event.

Friends of Dicken Woods Meets With City to Discuss Rail Fences at Dicken & Carol
On December 3, Brad Kluczynski of the Ann Arbor Transportation Department met with Doug Wood and Helen Barr of FoDW to discuss the city's plans to replace the guardrails at the end of Dicken & Carol with decorative rail fences.

The fence product they plan to use is made of recycled material, and weathers to a brownish gray. It has cylindrical posts with holes for 2 sets of horizontal 10' rails. For Dicken, the fence will visually be the width of the road, but will be set back behind the paved path in 3 staggered segments as shown below. There will be a single fence segment centered in the front, with the continuation of the fence (2 or more sections) on both sides set back an additional 4 feet. The idea is that it will look like a continuous fence from the street, but people on foot or bicycles will be able to pass through easily.

The "Road Ends" sign will continue to be at the end of the road to provide drivers and snowplow operators visual feedback. They will remove the existing steel guardrail parts and the existing wood posts, but may place a new wood post in front of the sign to protect it from the snowplows. FoDW or NAP should be able to remove rails to allow trucks to back in to deliver chips or other materials, and utility trucks that use the Maple-to-Dicken easement to access TV, telephone, & electric lines will be able to maneuver around the fences.

At the end of Carol, they will unbolt & remove the steel guard rail from the 3 posts, leave the 2 right posts, and remove the left post. They will put a single fence segment back behind where the left post is with the intent of connecting the trail to the end of the sidewalk.

We are hoping for the work to be done this spring.

Eagle Scout Planning Bridge Project for Dicken - Carol Path
An Eagle Scout candidate is presently working with the Dicken Woods City Park Planner to construct a wooden boardwalk bridge over the seasonal marsh on the path between the ends of Dicken and Carol. Since the planning, supervision, and fundraising are all part of the requirements for this Eagle Scout project, FoDW is poised to assist in its construction, if asked. Stay tuned for further details.

Wood Chip Delivery Requested for Dicken Woods
As was the case last year, the city forester plans to direct all wood chip deliveries from mid-April to mid-June toward city forestry planting projects (primarily replacement of many city trees lost to the emerald ash borer). We have asked Natural Area Preservation to have the forester deliver a load of chips to Dicken Woods during the next few weeks (after the snow pile has melted), if available, prior to the city's planting projects so we will have some on hand prior to mid-June. So don't be alarmed if you see "Mount Chipmore" reappear at the end of Dicken Drive!