Frances Slocum State Park (7-Dec-2016)

I was in the area visiting family and decided to do a small clean-up at Frances Slocum. This was only my second time to this park and I still have a lot of it to explore. My first stop was at a boat launch access and from here I worked my way along the bank to a small dam where I picked up most of the trash on this trip. 

The lake is the biggest attraction this park has. I do plan to get out on the water here sometime for a clean-up, but it will have to wait until the spring or summer. On the lake itself there were several dozen Common Mergansers. In this photo the white dot on the right is one, I couldn't get close enough to any for a good photo though. 

This was all of the trash from the first stop. Most lined the base of the dam. As usual the recyclables were loaded into my car and everything else was deposited in one of the cans near the launch. It seemed as though fishermen were the biggest litter offenders at this location. 

In addition to the Common Mergansers, I also came across some common mammals. The Grey Squirrel on the left was chowing down on something on the log and the young White-Tailed buck was nibbling on some small plants. From the angle of the photo of the buck you may not be able to tell it is a male, but it did have two small spikes.

I made another stop in the main portion of the park and took some trails. For the most part the trails away from the lake were pretty clean. On the lake edge and around a picnic area is where almost all of this was found. The kids throwing toy has already found a new home and I can happily say that this specific piece of trash is being used again before it will eventually be discarded. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA