Tuscarora State Park and State Gamelands (2-Feb-2017)

With random snow showers through the day I chose to just do a hike at Tuscarora State Park. I knew I would not find much trash and I didn't know if everything would be covered in snow by the time I was done. 

A few times during the hike the snow was coming down somewhat heavy. Not much was accumulating on the ground though. I stuck to the trails on the back end of the lake and went along the field edges and through one of the old pine groves. 

The rows make it very clear that this isn't a natural pine forest. Pine tree farms are very common in the area and this grove was probably planted well before the state purchased the land. 

Hiking out I passed by a flock of Cedar Waxwings and American Robins off of the trailside. Several times now I have seen these two species flying together. The interesting thing to me is although they seem to go together as a group the two flocks stay separated. The only thing I can think of is that they may feed off of the same food sources and this separation prevents conflict. Has anyone else observed this or know the answer to why they don't seem to mix in together? 

When I approached passed on the trail the majority of Robins moved further away and the Waxwings stuck around.

One of the American Robins. 

This was it at Tuscarora and it was about as much as I anticipated finding. From there I went to a local gamelands for another short hike and to try to pick up a few more items before heading home. 

This winter the Game Commission has done a lot to this gamelands. It may look bad, but this is part of how they manage their lands for game species. This area will either be left to grow in as grassland habitat or it will be planted with feed crops for game species. The areas that are left to grow as grasslands also benefit non-game species as well providing nice field habitats. If you are wondering why there is no snow, the sun did break through for a short time and was enough to melt the open areas like this. 

Like Tuscarora there wasn't much trash at this location. I enjoy areas like this where I can cover a good amount of ground and not find much. 

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