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Learn about pollinators with Iowa City parks this summer
Jul. 17, 2023 6:00 am, Updated: Jul. 17, 2023 10:47 am
Iowa has a wide variety of pollinators, from insects like bees and butterflies to other animals, like hummingbirds and bats, and 16 of them are being featured this month in 15 different Iowa City parks.
The Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department has partnered with The Lena Project, an Iowa City-based nonprofit, to create the Pollinator Park Prowl, a six-week long event during which community members can win prizes by searching for hidden pollinators in city parks. The event started July 1 and runs through Aug. 13.
“We have these extraordinary parks (in) Iowa City and we want people to get out more and engage with them and also learn more about how those park spaces and green spaces — even if it's a green space that’s downtown and not your typical park setting — how those green spaces really support wildlife,” Michelle Wiegand, the recreation program supervisor for Iowa City.
The hidden pollinators in each park were carved out of wood by Martin Construction, and they were hand painted by Hope Spragg, an Iowa City artist. The parks each have an initial pollinator station, marked with a large bow, that has a sign with information about the pollinator hiding in that park — it’s preferred habitat, how common it is in Iowa, if it’s endangered and other information. The signs also have clues indicating where in the park the pollinator can be found.
“It's really just kind of amazing that we have these just hanging up in our parks, because each of them is just a really beautiful piece of art. Hopefully, not only are people enjoying the hunt for them, but also the art and the time that the artist put into the project,” Wiegand said.
Community members who go searching for the pollinators can win entries in the Pollinator Park Prowl Raffle by taking a photo with the pollinator and either posting it to social media with the hashtag #ICPollinatorParkProwl or emailing it to ParkImages@Iowa-City.org. Bonus raffle tickets will be rewarded for those who can correctly identify the pollinator they found.
The grand prize for the raffle, which will only be available to those who visit all 14 stations, hasn’t been announced yet. Several smaller prizes are available to anyone who finds at least one pollinator, including gift certificates to several local businesses, a date night package, an outdoor enthusiast package, Iowa City pool passes, a handcrafted Iowa City Farmers Market quilt, and other prizes.
Maps showing the location of the pollinator stations can be found on the Iowa City Recreation website.
According to Tricia Windschitl, the co-founder and director of The Lena Project, the idea for the Pollinator Park Prowl came as part of the nonprofits attempts to introduce people to pollinators this summer.
Iowa City parks and green spaces with hidden pollinators
— Ashton House, 820 Park Rd.
— Benton Hill Park, 615 W Benton St.
— Cardigan Park, 500 Huntington Dr.
— Chadek Green, 1920 Friendship St.
— Chauncey Swan Park, 405 E. Washington St.
— City Park, 200 E. Park Rd., two pollinators
— Robert A. Lee Discovery Garden, 220 S Gilbert St.
— Hickory Hill Park, 1439 Bloomington St.
— Hunters Run Park, 1050 Duck Creek Dr.
— James Alan McPherson Park, 1858 Seventh Ave. Court
— North Market Square Park, 600 Fairchild St.
— Pedestrian Mall, 8210 S Dubuque St.
— Terry Trueblood Recreation Area, 579 McCollister Blvd.
— Wetherby Park, 2400 Taylor Dr.
— Waterworks Prairie Park, 2875 N Dubuque St.
The Lena Project partners with Oaknoll Retirement to offer a summer camp where kids can learn about pollinators and see the metamorphosis process of Monarch butterflies that are kept at Oaknoll.
“That experience is limited to our campers and Oaknoll folks, and what we wanted to do is bring the plight of pollinators to our larger community. We wanted everyone to learn about this,” Windschitl said.
Windschitl began thinking about the possibility of a scavenger hunt, and talked with Wiegand about the idea. Wiegand had previously worked on a project when she worked for the National Audubon Society in St. Louis in which different types of birds were hidden in parks for people to find, and she suggested doing something similar with pollinators in Iowa City.
“I think there are several goals. One is to get folks out into the parks, and not just the playgrounds where they might normally hang out, but a little farther into the parks to see all the wonderful habitats and ecosystems that are out there and just right here in our backyard,” Windschitl said.
“Beyond, we hope that people will, in a very fun and playful way, learn a little bit about pollinators and how important they are to our ecosystems and food systems.”
So far, Wiegand and Windschitl said they’ve heard a lot of good feedback about the park prowl.
“It’s definitely a great activity for kids, but it is open to all ages and I love that we do have people of all ages that are participating already,” Wiegand said.
“We want people to get out and explore parks that they’ve never been to and try to visit new places and learn about all the different types of parks that we have. We have over 50 parks in Iowa City and so we can’t highlight all of them through this program, but hopefully, this gets the participants to some new places.”
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
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