Survivor Tree

As many of you know I volunteer at the 9/11 Memorial.  There's a tree that has been replanted, fittingly named, the Survivor Tree.  I have enclosed a link (credits to & courtesy of our Volunteer coordinator) where you can see it & note that there is now a happy family of birds living there.

This tree - a Callery Pear Tree is a pretty normal tree, nothing unusual or extraordinary, but a nice tree with pretty flowers.  Not a pear tree like the kind we see in the produce market, but a flowering fruit with tiny berries usually eaten by birds. Forgive me for I'm not a tree expert or arborist, I'm just giving you the few facts that I know.  Anyway, the tree was one of the trees planted at the WTC site.  This particular tree was unearthed from the rubble on Halloween 10/31/01.  It was placed in a pile of garbage, to be discarded until one of the rescue volunteers (who was an environmentalist or tree expert - again not 100% sure of his title) noted that it could be saved.  This pear tree is a hardy tree that grows well & remarkably thrives.  The only thing that usually kills this tree is high winds, or storms, but not this tree.  Found under tons of rubble, it was plucked from the site, taken to Van Cortland Park in the Bronx & nursed back to health.  I have heard from a number of sources, that it was also struck by lightning while in the Bronx.  Crazy, right?  I will have to remember to take a close up picture of the tree next time I am there so you can see the difference in the regrowth.  The difference in the bark is amazing & the 30' in regrowth is as well.

The tree was replanted at the WTC site in December of 2010.  I can also tell you that seeds from this tree were taken & are set to be grown & replanted at the Shanksville, PA site as well.  I believe the goal of the arborist is to replant one tree from seeds grown from the survivor tree in every community where there is a 9/11 memorial.

But back to the birds........I noticed on April 16th (Jerry's birthday) when I was working that a bird had taken a liking to this high up perch.  I had no idea it had been building a nest there.  & only a month later, here's the great news, that a family has picked this tree (of all trees at the site - although the rest are still very young & probably not an ideal place for a bird condo) to live!  Very cool indeed.  The birds have also been spotted drinking from the waterfalls.  Just goes to show that nature always finds a way.

I have enclosed a local news link, for those who want to see the replanting.  Enjoy!

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=7857410