State Gamelands and Beltzville State Park (13-Jan-2017)

Again after a clean-up down by the Lehigh, I headed over to Beltzville State Park with the intention of walking Penny and doing a little bit of birding. I stopped at one of the gamelands accesses along the lake and very quickly a leisurely walk turned into another clean-up. Along the paths there were some items, but where the main path at this access runs into the lake there were piles. The piles were a mixture of picnicking and fishing waste with a few oddities like a detergent bottle. 

It also looked as though someone went to the trouble to try to cover the items with branches. I guess the idea was, out of sight, out of mind. Much of the trash looked as though it was bagged at one point, but the time out in the elements had deteriorated the bags. 

Penny once again seemed not to be pleased and again I had to tie her up while I picked up and put this pile together. 

This was everything at this stop. More trash than recyclables this time. I bagged everything up. Did a quick walk around of the parking lot and picked up a few more items, then it was off to the next stop for a walk. 

The Pine Run Access of Beltzville State Park was the next destination. When parking I spotted the Northern Harrier above hunting over the fields. I was hopping to get a closer shot, but Harriers can cover a vast amount of ground in a relatively short time and when I made it over to the field edge it was already way off in the distance. 

Starting down a path that borders the fields and runs to the lake, I felt like I was being watched. Then something else caught my eye in the field. I was being watched! By this White-Tailed Deer. I give this deer credit, it found one place in the park that most humans definitely won't go. Much of the plants surrounding it have thorns and I know I wouldn't want to walk through there. 

Where the path I was on met the lake it splits. Normally I go left which follows the lake for a bit then cuts up on the back edge of the field. This time I went right and of course I found another pile of trash. This time I did not have a burlap sack on hand and was happy to find a bag in the pile so I didn't have to walk back to the car. Above are before and after photos.

This was everything pulled out of the area above. I packed the non-recyclables in the charcoal bag and recyclables went in my pack which I did have on me. 

I found a few more items along the trail which dead ended at the lake. The oddest items were packaging materials for snorkels which you can see sticking out of the bag. In addition to those I did find one snorkel. Non-recyclables were thrown out at the access and recyclables packed into the car.

Ending this post with a Bluebird. I took this photo at Beltzville between stops. There was a small flock that seemed to be enjoying the Staghorn Sumac. This particular one took a break from eating to check me and Penny Out. It took awhile, but Penny did get a good walk in. 

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