Date: 10/16/25 6:39 am From: Margy Terpstra <0000049583b18162-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: Gaddy Garden - No Sighting
As a WGNSS member and birder, I was invited to join in the discussions during several meetings in 2015-2016 about the bubbler area. Bill Reininger had become the new park director following John Karel’s retirement. Bill is still the director at the park. Ironically, our first meeting/walk-through was 10/16/2015, exactly ten years ago today.
This topic is water under the bridge, so to speak. The old bubbler was a mound of rocks, with one large fairly flat rock on top with a cistern beneath. City water was piped in and ‘bubbled’ on top, then flowed over the flat rock, filled the cistern and made a little wetland of the area for the plants and birds. The vegetation, some native (copper iris) offered cover for birds and a place for them to forage for insects. The water was turned off for the winter months so the pipes would not freeze. I have photos and could share a link if interested.
As I recall, there were 10-12 of us at those meetings. Other WGNSS members may remember other details. A gift had been given to the park specifically for a new bubbler, and a contractor had been chosen Our input was asked for and given, and the new bubbler was installed in winter of 2016. There is a stone maker that says, “Caroline Loughlin Fountain 2016”.
That’s the history in a nutshell. I don’t know the numbers of birds recorded at the old bubbler vs. the new. I don’t know how long the old bubbler had been in place, not sure I still have notes on all that, but a WGNSS member probably knows and it’s in the archives. The plaque on the old bubbler read, “In memory of Kyrle Boldt, 1904-1991”. So, sometime after 1991, I would think. That plaque is now on a bench in the garden, I believe.
Most of my birding is done here in our sanctuary. Our bubbler had been in operation since 10/21/2000, twenty-five full years in a few days. Birds need moving water wherever they forage, especially in this unseasonably warm and dry year. Consider how you might add a dripper over a bird bath at least to help our beloved birds!
> On Oct 16, 2025, at 7:12 AM, Lisa Saffell <lesfstl...> wrote:
>
> I agree Patrick! I think the larger deeper and faster moving “bubbler” attracts people and dogs more so than small birds. Whenever I’m there I try to put some smaller limbs in the water so the little birds will feel safer but the water is just moving way too fast and it’s too deep. They promptly remove them anyway.
>
> I was never there when it was smaller or when there were native plants but I feel like Gaddy Garden is a missed opportunity. I think a little education from the birding community for the people who maintain that area would be very beneficial if they were open to implementing some of the ideas.
>
>
> “A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” — Maya Angelou
>
> Lisa Saffell, St. Louis
> @instagram.com/lisasaffell
> @instagram.com/stl_birder
>
>> On Oct 15, 2025, at 11:04 PM, Patrick Maloney <maloneypatrick...> wrote:
>>
>>
>> While I have been birding for almost 50 years, lack of mobility and eyesight render me still in the neophyte range of the pastime. However, I did enjoy birding in Tower Grove Park, especially the Gaddy Garden where there were benches to sit at. Now, I have a question. Several years ago, the little bubbler was replaced with a larger - and deeper - waterfall and a lot of non-native vegetation was removed. Since that time, in my non-expert opinion, it seems that the quality of the birding, that is, the number and variety of species, seems to be reduced. Is that true? Does anyone else notice a decline? As I said, I am not an expert and do not get out as much as I once did, but I definitely feel that something has changed. Anyone else?
>> Pat Maloney
>> South St. Louis
>>
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