When Elizabeth River Project's landscape contractors removed a group of tall invasive weeds alongside our future nature park, decades of litter were revealed...trash that had been caught and hidden at the base of the big Phragmites reeds.

Now, not just the invasive reed is gone along Victory Boulevard at what will be our entry to Paradise Creek Nature Park.  The trash is also gone, thanks to a hard-working team of volunteers who turned out on Saturday, the 18th, to spiff up the park.  This, and so much more work, is being done in preparation for our exciting public opening by December, 2012!

After picking up litter and cutting invasive vines from 9 to 11 a.m., the group got a "sneak preview" tour of the park-in-the-making, including the 11-acre area dug by the Virginia Port Authority for a new wetland. An ornithology team, led by Dr. Eric Walters from Old Dominion University, helped the group identify 14 bird species, too. Download the list of birds identified and see how many you can spot in your own yard.

Special thanks to volunteers from our River Star Homes program and the River Star Homes event committee; US Navy crew, including ships stationed at Norfolk Naval Shipyard; Old Dominion University and Cradock Civic League. City of Portsmouth Parks and Recreation provided supplies and Waste Management to haul away the trash.

Read more about Paradise Creek Nature Park... our largest restoration site to be open the public and Portsmouth's third largest park!