Jonathan Parker with Seeds to Community

Join naturalist and Ann Arbor Parks Steward Jonathan Parker to learn about his project Seeds to Community.

Seeds to Community is a volunteer-driven event series rooted in habitat restoration and ecological connection. They bring people together across Washtenaw County to collect, clean, and sow native plant seeds – rebuilding the kinds of wild places that support thriving bird populations. Their work focuses on forests, meadows, and transitional edges where native species once flourished. By grounding their events in seasonal cycles and local stewardship, they give volunteers a hands-on way to participate in long-term habitat healing – often right in their own neighborhoods.

For the birding community, this means more than just pretty flowers. Native plants provide the food, cover, and nesting habitat that sustain birds year-round – from May warblers in migration to overwintering sparrows and resident chickadees. Every goldenrod they restore, every patch of sedge they replant, and every invasive shrub they remove makes a real difference in the complex web of life that birds rely on. They welcome birders not just as observers, but as land stewards – people who know the land through sound, movement, and attention. Your insight is exactly what we need to make restoration more responsive, connected, and enduring.

You may also like the following events from Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance:

• Next month, 6th December, 08:00 am, Belle Isle State Park with Oakland Bird Alliance in Detroit
• Next month, 13th December, 09:30 am, BIPOC Bird Walk at North Bay Park/Ford Lake in Ypsilanti