Crossing the bridge on Harford Road that lies between Chesterfield Avenue and Parkside Drive, it's hard to imagine that just below you acres of woodland exist in such an urban setting, but it does. The Herring Run flows east into the East River, and it's home to the usual urban wildlife . . . ducks, and seagulls and squirrels, but it's also home to foxes, hawks, and a wide variety of birds that live in the park year round or stop to rest on their way to somewhere else.

The park offers city residents a place to get away without having to leave town. There are bike paths, softball and soccer fields, and a paved loop for walking that leads into wooded area. There are sections of the park that seem so remote that it's a surprise to suddenly hear urban traffic as you approach Route One, which crosses right through the park.

Wildflowers stand alongside huge, old oak trees. Orioles, hummingbirds and woodpeckers - pileated and red belly woodpeckers - can be seen. But the most spectacular sight is the Great Blue Heron. The herons are year round residents, and you can see them gliding along the path of the stream as they fish, or standing (some a tall as four feet) stark still as they hunt small mammals on the shore. The heron's are so big, and so imposing that each new sighting seems almost surreal. Rainy days are great for bird watching.

These groups need volunteers and support for the work they do helping our community in particular and the environment in general.

The Herring Run Watershed Association. The organization's Stream Teams informs the public through newsletters, exhibits, oral presentations and educational festivals, as well as, hands-on projects such as tree plantings, cleanups and stream surveys.

The Irvine Nature Center: Project Clean Stream. Always needs volunteers to clean area streams and watersheds throughout the Baltimore metro region as part of Project Clean Stream, the region's largest coordinated stream and watershed clean up effort organized by Irvine Nature Center each spring.