Forest Hills Connection || News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood
Covering Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park and Wakefield
Readers of Forest Hills Connection know Marjorie Rachlin as our ace nature writer. She also enjoys hanging out at the Chevy Chase Library. On Saturdays you will often see her volunteering for the Friends the Chevy Chase Library at their used bookstore upstairs. Barbara Parker profiled Marge for the Friends newsletter, and gave us permission […]
It is too late now to hear the songs of most birds. Even the wood thrush has stopped its singing. I miss it. Next year. But the cacophony of nature continues in late August as insects take a starring role. Please take out your ear buds for a few minutes and listen to the sounds […]
by Marjorie Rachlin Wildflower or weed? It can be in the eye of the beholder. Take a look at some of the interesting summer wildflowers you can see on roadsides and meadows nearby. Rock Creek Park and the Broad Branch stream restoration are good places to start. Swamp milkweed In early August this lovely native […]
by Marjorie Rachlin Do you ever wonder what those birds in your backyard are doing? Do your children ask, “What’s that bird?” There’s an easy way to find out. Just install a few simple attractions like a bird bath, a hummingbird feeder or a wren house. I have all these “amenities” in my Forest Hills […]
by Marjorie Rachlin Sneezing? Itchy throat? Runny nose? The oak trees of Forest Hills and greater DC are shedding their pollen. Their yellow dust is everywhere, and allergies are kicking up. Oak trees belong to a group of trees that have male flowers and female flowers on the same tree. The female flowers are so […]
by Marlene Berlin It took a few years of planning and several months of work to return a long-buried stream to the surface. On an April 7th tour of the daylighted portion of Broad Branch Stream, we learned more about the restoration project and the work in the almost five years since then to support […]
by Marjorie Rachlin Orchids, orchids, everywhere. You will be amazed at the orchid display in the courtyard of the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery (between 8th and 9th Sts NW, at F and G). They are there through April 28th, planted in hip-high planters so you can get close to the blooms. […]
by Marjorie Rachlin The National Park Service has been working for three years to come up with a plan to renovate and improve the Nature Center complex in Rock Creek Park. This plan provides recommendations for changes at the Nature Center, the Horse Center and the maintenance yard (where equipment is kept), as well as […]
by Marjorie Rachlin What is that pile of junk and brush in my garden? It’s a winter hotel – a place for insects and small critters like toads and garden snakes to find shelter. They need a place to keep out the winter cold and protection against predators. Many butterflies, bees, beetles, ladybugs and other […]
In the summer and early fall, sudden downpours would send us running for cover. Now, we risk being bombarded by acorns. The Washington Post confirms Washington’s white oak trees are producing a bumper crop, the likes of which we see only every few years… like in 2012, when Marjorie Rachlin wrote about the dining habits […]
