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Riderwood Programs and Activities As more and more residents continue to become aware of Riderwood's commitment to habitat restoration and enhancement, volunteers will grow in number and projects will grow in scope and importance. The habitat projects listed on these pages are critical to native wildlife in such an urban area. But they are also just as important to the residents themselves. These projects promote self-worth and gratification. In the future, they will also influence other Erickson properties and other retirement communities to invest in wildlife habitat and educational programs.
Riderwood Achieves WHC Certification Imagine a day of pulling weeds for native plants to thrive, monitoring bird boxes where over 80 species of birds now fly or watching rescued red-eared sliders in the nearby pond floating by. These are among several conservation activities happening at Riderwood, an Erickson-built and managed retirement community in Silver Spring, Maryland, that is among the first retirement communities in the nation to earn habitat certification by the Wildlife Habitat Council. Anne Blackburn, a Riderwood resident who led the charge in making the community wildlife friendly, also accepted the 2005 Community Partner of the Year award at WHC’s 17th Annual Symposium. Credited by Erickson Retirement Communities as being “a leader and initiator of the highest caliber,” Blackburn led Riderwood to be among the first retirement communities in the world to receive habitat certification through the Wildlife Habitat Council. Read more stories in the Erickson Tribune: January 2006 and March 2006 Riderwood Resident Named Senior of the Year
At Riderwood in Silver Spring, Maryland, foxes, deer and a friendly-but-pesky groundhog live in harmony with their human counterparts. Bats reside in resident-built bat houses. Soon, wood ducks will have their own island refuge in the middle of one of the retirement community's ponds. They're all there because of Anne Blackburn. Blackburn has ensured even bats have homes at Riderwood, and that the bats are used as pest control. Riderwood's woodworking club built bat houses for the campus. The group is also working on bluebird houses. Blackburn was instrumental in helping Riderwood partner with the Wildlife Habitat Council to form a Backyard Conservation habitat enhancement program, which includes a variety of workshops and will serve as a model for other retirement communities. Blackburn, 72, a Riderwood resident for two and a half years, is the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce's recipient of their 2005 Senior of the Year award because of all the work she's done in the Riderwood community. Turtles, wildlife find refuge at Riderwood community by Meghan Mullan, Staff Writer, The Gazette
Riderwood prides itself on a setting that is conducive to both senior living and wildlife. The ponds are maintained and stocked with fish, woodlands surrounding the campus are cleared of invasive species and habitats for animals are carefully constructed. Anne Blackburn, along with several other resident volunteers, work year-round to make the outdoors at their community wildlife friendly. The residents construct brush piles to serve as shelter, build bat houses and attract birds with seeds and homes. The community volunteers carefully record the sightings of birds, mammals, fish and insects found on the campus, and work to make their habitat more sound. Residents have made bat and birdhouses and constructed feeders. They also have grown a butterfly garden, and carefully moved woodchucks from a site too close to gardens. All the work led Blackburn to apply on behalf of the community for certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council. WHC has never certified a senior living community before. If it does, Blackburn said it will be pure "satisfaction." Great Horned Owls' Songs of Love This Mating Season
“Hoo-Hoo.” It’s more than the call of the wild; it’s songs of love among great horned owls in search of a mate at Riderwood, a campus for persons over 62 years of age in Silver Spring, Maryland. It’s no surprise that great horned owls hunt for love at Riderwood during mating season (December and January). Great horned owls are plentiful and live in Maryland year-round, but prefer habitats with dense woodlots bordering open fields. According to Amy Stetson, horticultural technician at Riderwood, males borrow the nests of hawks, herons, and crows, and sing to any female in listening distance, hoping to convince her to become his mate. “It’s easier to hear the wistful calls, which can go on for 45 minutes at a stretch, night after night, than to see them in the dark. The male sings, and then the female responds in the standard call,” says Stetson. “While it’s hard to see them in the dark, you may catch sight of them swooping from tree tops in pursuit of a meal or mate.” The elaborate courtship ritual begins in December and January, and has the potential of six-month-long mating period. However, the sound of midnight music signals more than love in the air; it may also bring a nest or two of mated pairs with eggs sometime this February.
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