Firetower Road (13-Sept-2016)

Last year around this time, I did a trash hike on Firetower Road and found more caterpillars than trash. I went out to see if I could find the same thing this year. 

As far as roadside trash goes there wasn't much at all. A can here a bottle there, but much less than most places. That was until I found this...

Another new dump. This is so disappointing to me. This area is beautiful and as you are about to see holds a great diversity of life. This looked to be someones old bathroom. There are simple solutions to this problem and I have to figure out exactly who's property this is on. It may be DCNR or may be a local township. If it is DCNR I will offer to clean this up, if it is township property they need to secure the area before I do. There are gates along the road, but all are in disrepair and not maintained. It is sad that simple fixes are not put in place so this doesn't keep happening. 

I can't identify all of the caterpillars I come across on hikes, this was an easy one though. On the left is a Monarch Caterpillar. On the right is a Monarch Chrysalis. Monarch Caterpillars are relatively easy to spot. They are always on Milkweed and their coloration giver them away on the green backdrop. The chrysalis is much harder to see. It blends in well with its surroundings and for me they are a rare find. 

Can you see it? I do know know what this caterpillar will develop into, as it is in it's larval stage here it sure is camouflaged. 

This was one of several parasitoid wasp species I found on this hike. I believe this is Trogus pennator. There are many parasitoid wasps and many without common names. It makes sense that I would find them while looking for caterpillars. Parasitoid wasps lay their eggs inside caterpillars. Their larvae eat away at that caterpillar from the inside out and will emerge and pupate on the caterpillar. Parasitoids kill their hosts and you may not like what they do, but they do serve a purpose. They help to keep populations of moth, butterflies and beetles at certain levels, this in tern limits the damage that will be done by the next generation of these insects when in larval form. Most of the larvae of the host species eat plant material and a lot eat live plant material. Even beneficial pollinator species can do damage to trees and other plants if not kept at just the right population size. You may think parasitoid wasps are gross, but they play an extremely important role in our environment.  

This is another common find on Milkweed at this time of year. It is a Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar. I found many on this trip. 

I can say this is a caterpillar and that is about it. No luck with finding a species for this. I do not have a caterpillar guide book and I don't think one currently exists. If anyone knows either the common or scientific name of this little critter please let me know. 

One cool looking spider. 

To me this was the greatest find of the day. I just thought this was the coolest wasp. I just learned after looking it up that this is also a parasitoid wasp. With it's body shape being dissimilar to the other parasitoids I did not think it was going to be. I believe this is Conura amoena. I am a little disapointed I did not get a better photo. 

More parasitoid wasps. There are so many different species of these it is just astonishing.

This was a new beetle find for me. It is a Milkweed Leaf Beetle and I found several on milkweed leafs.

Another amazing insect. This is a Walking Stick. Most people might think of the tropics when they think Walking Sticks, but we do have them in Eastern PA as well. They are often hard to spot and blend in well with their surroundings. 

Milkweed Bugs on a Milkweed seed pod. The one hanging upside down is in the process of molting. These bugs will molt a number of times before reaching maturity and becoming winged adults. 

Found many of these along the access road and trails I traversed. I am not sure of the species and have had no luck looking it up. 

This was all of the trash from the trip. Much of it was collected near the firetower itself. When I have more time into fall I will try to find out who owns the property with the dump site and get the area cleaned up and hopefully get the owners to secure it so it doesn't happen again. I hope you enjoyed the insect photos from this trip. I am sure there will be more to come this fall!

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

Tuscarora State Park (24-May-2016)

To those who read this blog often, sorry for the delay in getting new posts up. This was the second clean-up of the day after a bank clean-up on the Lehigh. I wanted to go for a paddle and Tuscarora State Park is close to home so I decided to go around the lake there. 

After cleaning up the entire lake shore once already this year, I didn't expect there to be much trash. There really wasn't a whole lot, but did find new wash ups of the same old trash items.

This was a first. I have found working waterproof headlamps before, but not a waterproof flashlight. Didn't even need new batteries, worked just fine. 

I may have missed this my last time around. Some items aren't that easy to spot. You night not be able to tell, this is a balloon. 

Perfect skies and calm water. A great way to paddle. 

On the far shore I did get out and walk around to stretch my legs. Away from the water I found a few cans and then I saw something that ended up not being that easy to remove...

In a couple years I don't think I would have been able to remove this bottle. It had to have been placed there some time ago. The tree had grown into it a little and it took some doing to wiggle it out.

Back on the water I took a minute to say hello to this Common Snapping Turtle. I would not suggest ever trying to pick up a Snapping Turtle if it is not absolutely necessary. Not only do they bite, they musk and can take a gouge out of your skin with their claws. For these attributes they should not be feared, they should be respected.

The paddle back didn't yield much trash at all. I wish it would stay this way through the summer! I can dream I guess. 

This was the last trash item of the day. Possibly off of a boat it was just a really thick piece of plastic. 

It was a long day with two clean-ups, the sun was setting and it was time to get home. 

Not a lot, I did hope to find less than this though. 

A Spotted Sandpiper on the lakes edge. 

New posts will be up tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to catch up to date.
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

Lehigh Gorge State Park (30-Apr-2016)

Back to one of the floodplains at the Glen Onoco Access of the Lehigh Gorge. The main goal of the day was to go further down this area and scout for more tires. Last Monday I worked pretty far down, but I didn't make it to the end of the plain. Didn't know how many I would find, but I was sure I would find some. 

Picked up more of the same river trash as I made my way down the plain. Sunglasses, footwear and cans. The normal and most abundant items of the day.

Discovered this old plain crash. From a quick search online this is most likely a Fisher Price Little People Jet Plane. It is possibly as old as the 1970's. 

A couple times on this trip I set my bags down and tied Penny up and searched the surrounding area for trash. This was one of the piles made at one of the stops. 

First laminated map of the Lower Lehigh Gorge I have found. Won't be surprised if I find more of these. I would think they would be popular with kayakers. 

Two out of four of the tires I found on this trip. I did pull both of these and moved them up river closer to where I can take them out at. I have to wait for weekdays to take them off of the riverbank though when the DCNR can pick them up right away.

A new color of this type of shoe. All man made material and probably won't biodegrade in my lifetime.

The second Red Socks hat I have found in the gorge. The other was further up river and that hat was much more deteriorated than this one. 

Bags were full and Penny was fed up with collecting trash for the day. She wasn't barking, she just gave me that look. She paid me back for making her sit around a few times this trip. She dragged me and the trash out of the flood plain at high speed to try to catch up with a dog she saw on a nearby trail. 

The burlap sack worked well and I was happy with how much trash I was able to pack in it. I can't believe just how much trash is in the gorge. There is much more than this still in the section I was working on. I walked by a lot I just did not have room in my bags to take out today. 

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

Lehigh River (24-Apr-2016)

When I set out on this trip the idea was to start in Walnutport and float down the river until I got to the very end of where the canal holds water. I wasn't going to pick up much on the river and I was mainly going to work on the canal which really needs it. Little did I know these plans would change quickly and I would end up with a lot of trash and hardly any of it from the canal.

The view from just setting out on the water. My original idea had me paddling through and far past the bridge pillars that can be seen in the distance. I ended up making it to them, just no farther. 

Along the river bank I noticed a bucket and some other smaller items. I too, noticed this Canada Goose on a nest. I saw it yesterday and just kept paddling. Today I figured I would see if I could get the items without bothering it that much. I kept my distance never coming within fifteen feet of it when I was out of the boat and it never moved or hissed. It did keep an eye on me though. 

Normally when I find a bottle like this it is just a broken top. When I lifted this one a whole bottle came out. If only there was a time lapse of how the sediment filled in around it. The bottle was perfectly upright. For some reason my mind runs through all of the possibly scenarios as to how this could have occurred. Funny how even an average trash item can be interesting to me.  

After starting I kept working the bank, hitting areas I didn't yesterday. Small pile, after pile, I began filling my kayak. 

From a distance this island looks clean. I went right by it yesterday. I did see some things while passing it on the side, but the water is faster on the side and by the time noticed a good place to stop I was already down river. I stopped at the head of the island this time, secured my boat and started searching. I really didn't expect to find that much. 

It was here I realized my plan for the day was basically over. If it kept going like this I wouldn't be able to take anything off of the canal. I had no clue what I was about to find further down the island. 

On the last trip I noticed a small cove further down the island and I decided to try to stop there. It wasn't hard to do and there were a few cans in the area. I then walked into the interior of the island and quickly realized I would be spending the majority of the rest of the trip there. 

This is the before and after of one of the debris piles on the island. There were two large piles and trash strewn about not in the piles. I got to work picking the plastic and styrofoam, I realized I couldn't take all of the trash, so those items were the main focus. I would like to point out once again that if you come across a debris pile like this you should stay away from it. They are often unstable, contain sharp objects that can be hidden and sometimes have wasps nesting in them. Be smart, stay safe and stay off of debris piles. 

You never know what you are going to find in a large debris pile. Mario on a cap, with a santa hat and beard. I never saw that one coming. An inflatable whale, well not something I find on a regular basis, but is something I have seen on the river before. 

From a distance I could see this large gas can tucked away in some Knotweed. I had to get it, in the summer the Knotweed will be so thick you wouldn't be able to see the can. On a side note, Japanese Knotweed is a non-native species. It likes river and stream side environments and thrives here in Pennsylvania. It is very problematic and in some places has taken over large sections of bank from our native plant communities. Instead of a multitude of species, we end up with just knotweed. It is also extremely hard to get rid of.

After collecting this pile from the island I was left to ponder how I would possibly be fitting everything into my kayak which already had a fair amount of trash in it. I came up with a plan and I put it into action. First I took the garbage bag from the boat and packed it with all the non-recyclables, excluding the whale. Then I started crushing down the plastic bottles and packed them into the back of the boat, the gas can and the bucket on the bow of my boat in the photo. I was still left with more bottles and the whale. The whale went on the stern deck underneath the non-recyclable bag and the remaining bottles I reluctantly shoved inside the front of my boat. I do not like items inside the front of the boat. It makes it really uncomfortable and hard to get in and out in a hurry.

You may be wondering, how did he shove plastic bottles into a gas container? For some reason the previous owner of it cut the top and side, in a manner that it was like the top and side had little swinging doors. I can't come up with any purpose that would serve, but it worked for what I needed.  

With a full boat I formulated a new plan. I was going to round the island and paddle up river on the opposite side of the island. Not far above the island is a place labeled the Old Swimming Hole and there are steps leading up to the canal. Definitely the easiest way to get everything back to the car.

This plan worked out well. I was able to paddle a little more than half way up the island. The current wasn't bad and it was the depth that kept me from paddling further up. I walked the boat the rest of the way to my desired take out and it was pretty simple. 

I did have to unload, walk up and reload all the trash on the deck, wasn't that bad. On the canal I did pick up four plastic bottles, only did that because they were easy grabs. 

After laying everything out like this I just was puzzled as to how I fit everything in and on the kayak. If you look closely I didn't even empty out the bucket and gas container into the plastic bottle pile. So much stuff and I didn't even touch the canal as far as trash removal which was the intended goal of the day. I will try to be back to the area again soon. I think tomorrow will be a tire removal day in the gorge. 

While packing up all of the trash I met the Fly Guy a local fly fisherman and sponsor of the Lehigh River Stocking Association. We talked trash and flies and he showed me some of his creations. I was  impressed, not only do they look real, but each one is meant to mimic a real species at a certain life stage. Thank you Fly Guy for sharing and I hope you real in some monster trout this year!

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