Strike Force Hits Invasives at C.H. Johnson Environmental Education Park (again!)
Those privets didn’t stand a chance! Continuing our partnership with Wake Audubon the past two years, the team gave the native plants and trees a sigh of relief this morning, filling two large trailers to overflowing with privet. While the main focus was privet, the team also removed a sizable stand of Japanese stiltgrass, as…
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Hurricane Isaias leaves debris in Walnut Creek trash trap
On October 12 our trash trap team suited up and cleaned out the trap. We found the normal leaf and limb debris as well as a large number of s tiny Styrofoam pieces. But, to our surprise there was also a tackle box with rubber worms and a lidless cooler. Best we could figure was…
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When faced with adversity we “Adapt and Improvise!”
Southeast Raleigh Elementary 4th/5th Grade Rooftop Garden, 10/2/26 Unfortunately our fears came true, and the drought and heat of late summer prevented the survival of much of our fall crop of vegetables. However, we viewed this as a learning opportunity and devised a strategy for salvaging plants and making the best of the fall growing…
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Dinner and a Show
It was a pleasant evening on the patio at Transfer Co in Raleigh, where SWC gathered around 35 local folks to see the spectacle of the chimney swifts roosting for the night in the short chimney immediately adjacent to the patio. It was the perfect viewing spot, and people grabbed a bite to eat and…
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An Invasive Removal Is A Great Way To Spend the Fall Solstice this 9/23/26!
Despite threat of rain, 10 volunteers of The Audubon Society and South Wake Conservationists, along with 4 employees for the town of Fuquay-Varina, participated in an invasive removal at Carol H. Johnson Environmental Education Park in Fuquay-Varina. Fortunately, the 60-degree temperature was perfect to remove it. Our main mission was to remove Japanese Stilt Grass…
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What a day at Inwood Wildlife Garden!
Despite the intense humidity and drought-hardened soil, volunteers tackled three major projects at Inwood Wildlife Gardens: building a hibernaculum, planting native species around “Brass Frog Pond,” and mulching the pollinator garden path. The ground was so tough that even the tractor’s bucket needed help from volunteers wielding pickaxes! By day’s end, we had installed 125 native…
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Double Header at Walnut Creek Wetland Center! With two events within seven days SWC helped remove close to 800 pounds of trash with The Big Sweep on 9/5/26 and pulled approximately 2500 square feet of Japanese Hops on 9/13/26. Well done team!
The Big Sweep event was on 9/5/26. As usual Big Sweep does a great job getting volunteers and organizing teams, with plenty of bags, vests and pickers. During Walnut Creek Center’s Mud Day festival volunteers from Carolina Wetlands removed over 222 pounds so all effforts were to areas around the Raleigh Greenway. The weather was…
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The day was hot, but the energy was high, literally! September 11, 2026.
Even with 97 degree heat, we were at maximum capacity on the rooftop of Southeast Elementary when 20 eager 4th grade gardeners, and 22 excited and veteran 5th grade gardeners, arrived to be guided by our five intrepid South Wake Conservationists leaders in two separate gardening sessions. The students were attentive, well behaved and worked…
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Clean out of Lake Johnson Trash Trap 8/29/26
After heavy rainstorms the trap was filled with trash, tree, leaf litter and hay from seeding an adjacent DOT highway project. So the response team suited up and removed trash and organic debris from the trap. We seperated it by category and inventoried it priorto puting into bags to weigh. In oder to secure pins…
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Wild Times With Wildlife Trivia
It was a fun night at the Black Dog Bottle Shop Friday evening, as we held our second annual Wildlife Trivia Night. Over forty people, families, couples, friends, and other wildlife enthusiasts, joined SWC to test their wildlife knowledge as teams to compete for some great prizes. Jennifer Mann emceed the event, assisted by Jeremy…
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Mud Day Madness
This was our fourth year in a row as an exhibitor at Mud Day at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center in Raleigh. This is always a fun event, and though our exhibit was far enough away from the mud slide to not get splashed, we did get some collateral mud from muddy visitors to our exhibit. A…
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Invasive removal at Annie Jones Trail in Cary, NC
Great kick off for The Invasive Removal Coalition of Cary’s first event at the Annie Jones Trail in Cary. Approximately 16 volunteers from multiple conservation groups showed up. Six of those were with SWC, other groups that participated were SWANEC and Rewild Cary. The Coalition provided quality snacks and beverages. The mission was to primarily…
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A Fun Night in the Park
SWC partnered with Wake County Parks to hold our fourth annual Moth Night at Crowder County Park in Apex Saturday evening. Bonnie Eamick, a certified environmental educator and SWC member and Adam Prince, an outdoor educator with the parks, teamed up with some friends from the local insect (and arachnid) population to deliver a fun…
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SWC Volunteers Pull Together at Bass Lake!
Our SWC volunteers are a determined group. Despite what felt like 100% humidity, our team of eleven spent the morning pulling weeds like nutsedge, black nightshade, crabgrass, stilt grass, and vinca, then spreading fresh mulch throughout the Bass Lake shade garden. This summer’s extreme heat, drought, and a few very hungry deer have taken a…
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Southeast Elementary Roof Top Garden Invasive Removal
Our first weeding event primarily focused on the center boxes in which students planted pollinators and vegetables. At the time, we thought that was a large amount of weeding, but that was nothing compared to what was in store for us. To avoid the forecasted 100 plus degree heat, we decided to move the event…
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Hoppin’ Down the American Tobacco Trail
Nature enthusiasts of all ages had a nice stroll down the American Tobacco Trail at the New Hill trailhead on our “Hoppin’ Herps Hike,” led by Kara Solomon, NCWF Conservation Coordinator. We kept a lookout for herps (reptiles and amphibians) in the ditches along the way, but the best opportunity was when we reached the…
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Celebrating Pollinators Together at Lake Crabtree Park
What a great day to celebrate pollinators at the annual Pollinator Festival at Lake Crabtree County Park on Saturday! Being under the shade of mature trees, it was quite pleasant on an otherwise warm day. This event leads us right into National Pollinator Week, which starts June 22. We enjoyed welcoming a lot of visitors…
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Volunteers Take Back the Pollinator Garden at Yates Mill
Was today’s Gardens and Habitats for Wildlife event an invasive removal or a pollinator gardening day?! We definitely did both! On May 30, South Wake Conservationists volunteers came together to restore the Yates Mill Pond pollinator garden. Native plants that had been buried under a dense tangle of poison ivy, blackberry brambles, and the invasive…
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Eco Kids Discover how Amazing Wildlife Can Be!
Our special Eco Kids event held today at Bass Lake Park, “Nature’s Secret Superpowers,” was a lot of fun, and not just for the kids! Led by the incredible Mary Bures, who leads NCWF’s Great Outdoors University, kids discovered how animals adapt to their environment in amazing ways. Avoiding predators by “hiding” via camouflage, in…
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Final 2026 Spring Invasive Removal at C. H. Johnson Environmental Education Park with The Audubon Society.
On May 14 these groups met to remove as much privet, and other invasives, as they could before the heat, ticks and humidity arrive, at this species rich park. The event was attended by 10 volunteers and 3 members of the Fuquay Varina Park Systems landscaping team. The weather was perfect and everyone was experienced…
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