Beltzville State Park (3-Feb-2016)

On this foggy and rain filled day I headed back to Beltzville State Park. I knew the parking areas would be clear by this point and I thought that the shorelines might be snow free in certain areas. 

The first stop was along the main inlet where Bauer Creek flows into the lake. Last year I cleaned up several sections in this area, the one today was new. As I had hoped the shoreline was clear of snow and other than the rain the conditions were perfect for taking out the trash. 

Right away I started finding the regular items. Does anyone know if the juice containers on the left are recyclable in PA? I find them a lot and they always go in with the non-recyclables.

I think at one time this was a Santa ornament. It was the oddest find of the day. Wonder how long it has been on the lakeside.

One piece of trash I was happy to find in the winter. This would have been unpleasant to pick up when it was full of Vespid Wasps. 

How many of these are still out there? Found two on this hike. One of which was tucked behind some overhanging brush in the lake.

Where do items like this come from. I was not on a main trail, it is not the easiest to get to this spot and all of these items were to high on the bank to be wash up from the lake. It just doesn't make sense. 

Penny was along and her look here told me she had had enough of the rain and that she was not going to help me take any of this trash back to the car. 

My pack couldn't hold another item by the time I made it back to the car and I was carrying the large foam blocks. Penny warmed up in the car while I sorted out the items into this pile and separated the recyclables from non before packing them into the car. 

On the way back to deposit the non-recyclables at one of the parks trash cans, I stopped at a small pull-off. Last year I cleaned up this same area and it truly was disheartening to see all of this trash. Not everything here was new, I did leave all of the glass items last year. 

I left Penny in the car to dry out some more and I got to cleaning up. The rain just kept coming down and I was starting to get soaked and cold. 

This is what I took out of that second stop today. I didn't get everything and I will do a more thorough job very soon. This did put a dent in what was there though. I loaded everything up and got back in the warm car to go deposit the non-recyclables. 

After dropping off the trash and warming up a little I took Penny over to the main parking area for a short walk. The rain had finally let up and we were able to get in a short walk for her without much trash collecting. 

I normally won't pick up other peoples dog waste bags, I did today though. I am really getting tired of seeing these. The whole point of picking up the waste in a bag it to deposit it into the trash. So many people don't seem to understand that. I don't know what the thought is here. Wrapping the waste in plastic then throwing it back on the ground is worse than just leaving it there in the first place.

The last items of the day. Where do you get Bubba Cola from? Pretty sure this was the first time I ever found a can of that. The snow is melted enough now that I think I will be back out on a regular basis. 
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

Upper Delaware Eagle Watch (30-Jan-2016)

On Saturday January 30th, Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center held an Eagle watching program on the Upper Delaware. It was an all day event running from 7am to a little past 8pm. I would like to point out once again that most DCNR educational programs are free. This one even included transportation from the Ed Center and one other location. Check with your local State Park to see what programs they offer and you may be surprised what you can see and learn about even locally. I snapped the above photo of the sunrise before we left the Ed Center.

The first stop of the day did have a Peregrine Falcon, but it was way off in the distance. The photo above is from the second stop of the day. Looking upriver there was a group of Goldeneyes, Mergansers and some non-native Mute Swans.

While we were standing at the riverside, this Merlin which is another one of our falcons came and checked the group out.

The group at our third stop of the day. This was one of the boat launches within the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area. 

At a small pull-off we found our first Eagle's nest. In this case both occupants were home and peering out of their massive nest.

Before leaving the Eagle's nest site the group got a good look at a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. If you are having trouble seeing it you can click on the photo to enlarge the image. 

We made a quick stop at the main office of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the group was kind enough to pose for this group shot by the wetland. 

On a ridge top two more Bald Eagles were spotted as we made our way driving up the Delaware. 

As we kept driving North through the Recreation Area there was less and less snow. At this stop, another boating access, I was able to pick up some trash. Like the last public trip, when I started others pitched in and helped! One nice thing about the Recreation Area accesses is that everyone has both trash and recycling bins making it really easy to dispose of everything picked up. 

This is Bill who volunteered to be a driver for the day. Not only did he volunteer to help the DCNR, but he removed this trash bag which was full of insulation! 

At a roadside pull-off away from the river, we didn't see any birds, but I did find trash. I really hope someone didn't change their oil there, but with finding the empty oil cans, most likely someone did. 

At the last stop in the Recreation area just a few items were found. Again, I wasn't the only one picking up and I was happy for the help. 

At this point we had not only left the Recreation Area, but Pennsylvania as well. We were now in New York State and still following the river upstream. 

As the sign reads this pull-off is called the Hawk's Nest. Some birds could be seen out on the horizon, but there was nothing close. Sadly a look over the edge revealed that many visitors dispose of their trash over the edge. This is not just an issue for those who live in New York, but any who live downstream. If not taken care of the trash will eventually make it to the river. 

At an Eagle watching station further upriver someone spotted something swimming across the river. It was two Beavers that climbed up onto a rock and stuck around for a couple photos.

Crossing back over the Delaware into Pennsylvania we got our closest look at a Bald Eagle in a Fish and Boat Commission parking lot. There was a crowd gathered before we arrived with cameras and spotting scopes out. This Eagle did not seem to mind. 

I decided to check out the boat launch at this access and in doing so found a lot of trash on the bank and in the water. I was really disappointed that it was here. The area clearly gets a lot of visitors that come to watch the Eagles, yet no one has bothered to clean up at all. With no trash cans around I went and got a trash bag and started filling it up. I didn't have much time so this was a dash for trash and I wasn't able to get a photo of everything collected before I had to go. This is definitely an area I will be back to and maybe sometime soon, since there wasn't much snow there and the ground is still covered here. 

We then followed the Lackawaxen River away from the Delaware. There across the river the group got to see one of the best sites of the day. Four Eagles in one tree. This photo only has three, one decided to take off before I could find an open view. 

On our way back I was able to take this photo of the sunset over Lake Wallenpaupack. In all there were 25 Bald Eagles and 1 Golden Eagle sited. It was a great day! For me it was great to see so many of a once endangered species along one of our local rivers! Thank you to all that participated and a special thanks to those who helped take out the trash!

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

Winter Wildlife Normally Not Seen

With the majority of trash covered in a deep blanket of snow, I spent last week searching for some of the creatures that are normally not thought of during winter. Some, like these spiders, are not that hard to find as they slowly creep across the snow.  

Spiders are not something that I can easily identify. I know that in these five photos there are at least two species, but beyond that I can not tell you much about them. 

Carefully look at the photo above and the photo below. The one above is a spider, the one below is not. Do you know what the one below is? 

This is an arachnid, but it is definitely not a spider. This is a Harvestmen also commonly called Daddy Long Legs. From what I have seen these are much less common in the winter than spiders. In five days I only came across two Harvestmen.

Not a Mosquito, not a Midge, it is a Crane Fly. Many people mistake Crane Flies for giant Mosquitos,  but these are absolutely harmless to us. If you want to see something really interesting look up Crane Fly Larvae. The larvae is aquatic and looks nothing like the adult.

While trying to get a decent photo of the Crane Fly the little critter here came into frame. At this time of year it is not normal to find one of these all alone. Generally you will find them in groups of hundreds or thousands. This is a Collembola or Springtail. Springtails were once classified as insects, but have been deemed distinct enough to be moved to the class Entognatha. This type of Springtail are often called Snow Fleas, they are not a Flea and like Crane Flies are completely harmless to humans. Most likely you would not see a single individual by itself, they are not much larger than a pin head. In large groups though they blanket the snow. So if you happen to be out hiking when snow is covering the ground and you come across a black patch, look closely it may be a large group of Springtails.

Years ago I came across an inchworm crossing a trail in the snow. It was the first time I had ever seen an invertebrate on the snow and it was what got me interested in searching for them when there is not much else to see. Inch Worms become Geometer Moths as adults. I am not sure how the larval stage survives these conditions or what it would even eat.

The day I took these photos I had the lens I use for birds on my camera. It doesn't do the greatest at photographing small creatures. I searched for both of these insects the rest of the week, but only found them on my first day out. The one above is a Gall Wasp. A Gall is a deformation of a plant due to an insect, like the larval stage of a Gall Wasp, living inside. These insects will feed off of the xylem or phloem (dependent upon insect type or species) of the plant and will emerge as adults. This particular adult Gall Wasp had reduced wings and would not be able to fly.   

This insect can also be called a Snow Flea. A much better common name for it is a Scorpion Fly. Like the Gall Wasp above this species of Scorpion Fly has reduced wings and can't fly. 

Have you ever heard of a PET water quality test for a stream or river? PET stands for Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera and Tricoptera, this is the Stoneflies, Mayflies and Caddisflies. There are different standards for different PET tests, but all look at the diversity of the larval stages of these insect orders to determine the overall water quality of a water body. The more diversity generally means the higher the water quality with these orders being sensitive to water conditions. The insect in the photo above is an adult Winter Stonefly. 

Through the week I found that not all of the arthropods will make it through these conditions. Not sure what killed this spider, but it may have been not finding cover overnight when the temperature dropped considerably.                             

One last insect I will point out is the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. This is an introduced species that is currently killing off our Eastern Hemlocks. The Adelgid itself cannot be seen in this photo, but you can identify it by the "woolly" casing it surrounds itself in. For years now eradication efforts have tried to eliminate this pest without overwhelming success. The Eastern Hemlock is the State Tree of Pennsylvania and the loss of this species could have major ecological impacts in the state. Hemlocks shade mountain streams year round helping to maintain the cold temperatures in them. Without these trees we could potentially loose the cold water communities found in these streams. 

With the snow I did not find much trash at all, but did pick up a few items. This bag was along a roadside. The ones below were in a parking lot. 

I know this post was a little different than normal, but I hope you enjoyed it and possibly learned something. More posts will be up soon!

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