Beltzville State Park (21-Oct-2016)

It has been some time since I payed a visit to Beltzville State Park. With all of the low water I've seen in our rivers and streams I shouldn't have been surprised that the lake was so low. The water level in the lake is controlled by the Amry Corps of Engineers and has recently had controlled releases to help regulate the water levels in the Delaware River. It is part of a series of reservoirs that help to do this. With portions of the lake bed exposed I took this as an opportunity to get some of the trash that would normally be out of my reach. The photo above is at the Pine Run Boat Launch where I started this trash hike.

I worked my way up the channel picking cans, bottles, sunglasses and other objects out of the muddy lake bed. For the most part I was walking on solid ground, near the waters edge though some places were deep mud. 

Taking a short detour off of the lake bed I checked out a lakeside trail that I have noticed in the past is a problem spot. Beer cans and chicken liver containers seem to suggest most of the items thrown into the brush here is from someones night fishing outing. There were two specific spots that were really littered with trash. Both I have cleaned up on previous trips, so this was all new at least from this past summer. 

A couple times I watched a small flock of American Goldfinches fly down and land near the waters edge. It looked like they were foraging for something in the leaf litter and exposed aquatic plants. 

After going under the bridge for Pohopoco drive I came to short trails leading down to the lake from another small access. It was on the trailside here that I found a ripped open garbage bag full of alcohol containers, picnicking items and of course diapers. This one bothered me. I am sure that the DCNR employees who mow this area would have seen this and did nothing about it. If it was taken care of before it was ripped open it would have been a really simple pick up.

With a nearly full bag and pack I decided it best not to go back along the lake shore, but to cross Pohopoco and walk the access road to my car. In doing so I cam across this on the side of the first parking lot I had to go through. The smell was horrific. I think it was probably beef ribs and I did my best to empty the contents before stuffing the tub with a grocery bag of trash I had in addition to everything else. Once sealed again this tub was not reopened.

This was all from the first round. Non-recyclables were put in the trash cans at the launch, recyclables loaded in my car. I then went to explore more of the lakebed and went in the other direction away from the launch. 

Items in these areas a spread out and can be hard to find. Other than in coves there really weren't any places where the trash accumulates. I just wonder how much is on the bottom in the deeper portions of the lake that never are exposed. 

The views make trash collecting not so bad. I love the fall colors on the opposing shore!

On clean-ups I often find freshwater mussel shells, but seldom do I find a living one. With the low waters I am sure there are some Raccoons that are feasting on these bivalves. I found many in the mud at the waters edge. 

This was it for the second round. I was glad I didn't find any more non-recyclables. The trash can I used was packed when I was done. There is so much new ground to cover at Beltzville I will be back for more clean-ups!
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

Hickory Run State Park: Sand Spring Lake (19-Oct-2016)

The second clean-up of the day. Parked at Sand Spring Lake at Hickory Run State Park and was met with these colors when I got out of my car. I was recently here working on the Shades of Death Trail, but I didn't get to go all the way around Sand Spring Lake. 

Sand Spring Lake. 

The purple piece of bamboo in the photo on the left was a helpful find. With it I was able to reach some items that were a little too far out in the water for me to grab, like the not so happy face on the right.

Items plucked from the water along the dam. From here I followed paths through the wooded shore of the lake.

At the upper end of the lake I took a gravel road which took me to a campground I had never seen in the park before. I always thought all of the camping was located in a different portion of the park. The view above was in the middle of the campground. From here I worked my way back down to the lake, walked some of the disc golf course, then continued on around the lake. 

I didn't have a whole lot of trash by the end, but I didn't really cover that much ground. It was an extremely nice hike and I was surprised I got to see new portions of the park. I didn't think there was much I hadn't seen of Hickory Run. 
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: White Haven Access (19-Oct-2016)

My first visit to the White Haven Access of the Lehigh Gorge State Park since I started this project. I am not sure why I hadn't made this stop until this point, I guess I just overlooked it. I focused on the area around the public boat launch and did work my way down the river a little bit. 

Found some small items and one large one along the road down to the river. On the left is just a plastic bottle, found it and a few glass bottles on the way down. The large item I think is a piece of a truck. It most likely came from the bridge above the access.

It was an awesome day for fall colors! Barely any water flowing in the Lehigh though. I don't even think I could paddle my kayak down it the water was so low. 

In a small flood plain along the river I picked up most of the items from this stop. The unopened beer on the right is ten years old. Not often do I find ones with labeled dates on them, but this one was from 2006. I am shocked it made it through so many winters without bursting.

This was everything collected from the access. Since I was so close to Hickory Run I decided to head over there next for another clean-up. I also gave me a chance to get rid of the non-recyclables. 
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

Out of State Post: Chincoteague, VA Wildlife (14/16-Oct-2016)

I hope that you enjoy this post even though it isn't about removing trash from the environment nor were the photos taken in Eastern PA. It is about wildlife though, the main reason I go out and do clean-ups. On this trip I was able to see and photograph several species I had never come across before. The first was the immature Forester's Tern above. Several were sitting on the bridge to the National Wildlife Refuge. 

This was the second mammal my friends and I came across in Chincoteague. We first saw White-Tailed Deer the night before. This is not a White-Tail and isn't even a species native to the United States. This is a Sika and is more closely related to our Elk than to Deer. Sika were released on the island a very long time ago and now have an established population here. 

Like the Sika, Ponies are also an introduced species. From what I have read from the National Parks Service, it is unknown when the Ponies actually arrived on the island, but it was hundreds of years ago. The population on Chincoteague is monitored and managed, keeping the population between 150 and 160 individuals. Once a year all of the ponies are rounded up and some are sold as a way to control the population size. On nearby Assateague island, a separate population of about the same size is managed differently and ponies are given a form of birth control. 

These were two common sights along the roadway in the refuge. On the left is a Great Blue Heron and on the right is a Snowy Egret. I wonder if any of the Great Blue's I saw were ones I have passed on Pennsylvania rivers?

For this photo you may have to click to enlarge. Near the center is a Magnolia Warbler. This was another bird I got to add to my life list. 

On the ocean's edge Sanderlings were a common sight. This individual was foraging for food in the surf. 

Okay, so this isn't a live Horseshoe Crab, I liked the way the photo came out though. As I stated in the last post, there were lots of dead Horseshoe Crabs washed up along both the ocean and bayside.

Very hard to spot, on and around the dunes there were many Ghost Crabs. For me they were impossible to see until they started moving. In the tidal areas I did also see Fidler Crabs, no good photos of those though. 

I was pretty sure I would see bird species I had never seen before on this trip, but I didn't think I would see a new butterfly species. This is a Common Buckeye and there were lots of them in the refuge. What amazing coloration and eye spots!

A Semipalmated Plover, another new species for me. It was hanging around a couple Piping Plovers. 

This Turkey Vulture ignored me as it flew in to some bones on the beach. I often see these in PA, I still thought it was neat seeing it feeding on the sand. 

This was not the first time I had seen American Oystercatchers. They were still awesome to see again. 

A group of Dunlin flying to feast on critters in the newly exposed sand from the tide going out.

This is something that I associate with manmade farm fields and quarries. Snow Geese to me just seemed out of place on the bayside. This is where their natural migration route takes them though. 

From a distance I thought there were just two Black Backed Gulls on this pier. As I got closer I realized they were not gulls, but Bald Eagles! 

When the tide went out I was able to see a few invertebrates that were exposed by the lower water. I can not say much about them, on the left is a species of saltwater snail and on the right a species of tube worm. The Tube worms had really cool tubes crafted out of shells and aquatic vegetation. 

You may think these are both Jellyfish. The one on the left is. The one on the right is a little more complex. It is called a Portuguese Man-Of-War and it is not just one organism. It uses the air filled balloon as a sail and drifts on the ocean surface. Tendrils hang down from the bottom of the balloon and catch prey items as it drifts. If you would like to learn more about the Portuguese Man-Of-War I would suggest visiting National Geographic's page on it. They give a good explanation of what it actually is.

The bird near the center is a Piping Plover. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1986 with only 790 breeding pairs on the Atlantic Coast the Piping Plover was placed on the Endangered Species List. Since then efforts to help increase their populations have worked and the number of breeding pairs is double that of thirty years ago. Their status has been reduced to Threatened, but their numbers are still no where near what they once were.

I tried very hard to get a good photo of a Delmarva Fox Squirrel. That did not happen and this was the best I could do. The Delmarva Fox Squirrel is a subspecies of the Fox Squirrel and only occurs on the Delmarva Peninsula. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service until recent years it made our nations list of Endangered Species. Due to recovery projects this subspecies rebounded to the point it was completely delisted. Still it is only found in abundance in specific places on the peninsula and does not have a widespread range. 

This isn't a Fox Squirrel, I still think it's cool though. This black Grey Squirrel was on the Island Nature Trail in a township owned park. This is only the second black Grey Squirrel I have ever seen. 

In the same township park I got to see another new species for me. This is a Brown-headed Nuthatch. This was our third stop to try to see this species and I am glad it was there. 

My last view of the Wild Ponies before leaving. This was the most I saw in one place on the entire trip.

I would like to give a special thanks to Joe Greco who invited me along and pointed out and identified most of the new bird species I added to my life list! Also, thanks to Tyler Sacks who helped pick litter off of the beaches as well! 

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