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The clean-ups have already started in 2017 and new posts will be coming soon!

Lehigh River: Final Post of the Year! (28-Dec-2016)

I had to do one last river clean-up before the year ended and as a result of snow this one also ended up being my last clean-up of 2016. Earlier in the year I had worked on this access at Treichler's Bridge and I knew there were some older items further up river that I hadn't yet able to make it to. My goal was to hike up river and work on that section. I started though by heading down by the launch.   

On my way to the river from the lot, I flushed a small flock of White-throated Sparrows. This one was kind enough to stick around for some photos. White-throated Sparrows are a very common find at this time of year. I only saw one other species on this trip and it was a Downy Woodpecker that was too far off for photos. 

Just down stream of the launch I found this. A bank of small items and some very large styrofoam blocks. The blocks were lined with a thick paper backing and the backings on the bottom two were waterlogged. I couldn't leave them in the river and I have no idea what the fisherman that was just up river thought when he saw me dragging them out. I did talk to him a little later and explained what I was doing. All but one of the blocks I was able to get up to the trash cans intact. The fourth one broke and I had to carry the backing up in my burlap sack.

The first round was complete, but I was nowhere near my goal of even reaching the sections I wanted to above the bridge and dam up river. Threw away the non-recyclables, loaded the recyclables in my car and it was off for round two. 

At this point I could have hit the D&L Trail and went strait for my goal, but I had to see just what was on the small stretch of walkable bank below and above the bridge. This paid off. The trash can lid in this photo I have seen on several other clean-ups. It had been hung up in an area I couldn't reach from the bank and it bothered me every time I saw it. Now it was mine for the picking! I scooped it up and continued on up the bank for more items. 

Before I picked it up, I had hoped the antifreeze container in this photo was empty. It was not. I then did the shake test and it was not water. I have nowhere to go with the stuff, but I can't leave it on the bank. It too went with me. 

Back to the trash can for the second deposit. Again recyclables went to the car, non-recyclables in the trash. The antifreeze and can lid were left as they are. This isn't the best thing for me to do leaving it there, inside the trash can would have been worse. My hope is that the township or county worker that finds it will properly dispose of it. It is at least in a better place than the riverside. 

For round three it was on to the D&L and up to the dam and beyond. Since my last visit two new informational stations have been installed, one on a railroad telephone booth and the other for the broken dam. After reading a little bit, I headed on down to the dam.

The dam I have found can be really trashy or have nothing at all on it. That leads me to believe there are others that sometimes clean it. On this trip it was really trashy. I did my best to scan all of the cracks and even dug with my boots for items in the large crack Penny has her head in, in the above photo. I really hoped she wasn't sniffing out a living creature when I put my foot in there.

As I searched and pulled up trash, Penny watched the D&L Trail for joggers and bikers. Both of which she loves to bark at and really wants to chase when they pass by. 

Further up river I got almost to where I wanted to be and found pile after pile. Coupled with what I took off the dam I had both my sack and pack full and had no other bags with me. I wasn't going to reach my goal for the day.

Headed back to the D&L I found this pile which had a ripped garbage bag. I put what I could in the ripped bag and hoped for the best on the hike out. 

This is what I had for the hike back. On the D&L I arranged thing a little better, but I still wasn't sure if the ripped bag would hold up. 

Luckily it did. After doing a sort, throwing the trash and loading the last of the recyclables in the car the last clean-up of the year was complete! I still have one more sort to do until I know the final total of recyclables for the year. This year has felt like a long one, next year I think is going to feel longer. There is so much more work to be done and it adds on everyday. Happy New Year to all of my readers! There will be much more to come!
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

Nesquehoning (25-Dec-2016)

Took advantage of the holiday and hit a road in Nesquehoning. Only one car passed the entire time, it stopped and I was asked what I was doing. When I explained, the man informed me that he would take a bag with him the next time he was out hunting and clean up some trash!

It was the normal stuff I find along this roadway. I have cleaned this section, many, many times.

Not a large haul, but something is more than nothing. I packed it all in the car and then I was headed home for a holiday meal. 
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

State Gamelands (23-Dec-2016)

This wasn't a short hike, but it will be a short post. I stopped at a gamelands in Schuylkill County near Tuscarora State Park. Much of the area still had a coating of snow, but there were patches especially around the field areas that were clear. I decided that since most of the trashy areas on the field edges were covered I would spend my time hunting left behind plastic shell casings in the fields. 

On one field edge I was looking for a sparrow that I saw fly into the brush and this Hermit Thrush came popped up to take a look at me.

Taking a short diversion away from the fields and my search I took a walk through a fairly large pine grove. There I got to see this Red-breasted Nuthatch. Most years I hardly ever see a Red-Breasted Nuthatch. This year I have seen them in multiple locations and one is even currently frequenting my feeders at home. 

I didn't collect as many shells as I had hoped and there was little other trash that could be seen. If you are not a hunter and spend time on Pennsylvania's State Gamelands like I do, please take the time to at least pick up a few pieces of trash. Hunter's paid for this land by purchasing their licenses, those of us who don't hunt should at least respect their land and do something to benefit it and the wildlife that resides on it. 

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

Christmas Bird Count and Some Trash: Out of State Post (18-Dec-2016)

I had the pleasure of joining a group for a Christmas Bird Count in Cape May New Jersey. Christmas Bird Counts are an annual tradition of birders who go out, identify, count and record the species they see. All records are submitted to databases and researchers can then use this data to monitor species. These counts are done all over the country, they are fun for participants and the data they produce is useful for conservation of species. The group I was with was assigned to just a portion of Cape May and for the count we had to stay within a designated area. The group I was with are members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club and they know their birds. I did my best to point out what I saw, but they did all of the identifying. At some of the stops I did pick up some trash, but like some other posts of mine, this one is for the birds. Above are two Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres). There were close to ten species that I was able to see on this trip that I had never seen before, I believe this was one of them.

Three Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca). I have seen Greater Yellowlegs before, even in Pennsylvania. They were still cool to see in a salt marsh.  

Two Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura) on a sand dune. Another bird common back in PA, I had just never seen them near the beach before. I wouldn't have even spotted them, had one not flown away from the boardwalk I was on. 

This was another new bird for me. It is a Dickcissel (Spiza americana). This is in someones front lawn in Wildwood. It was within our range and still counted in the count. 

A Brant (Branta bernicla) again, a new species for me. This was one bird that we saw hundreds of throughout the day. 

The last bird of this post, a Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri). Please don't ask me the difference between a Western Sandpiper and a Semipalmated Sandpiper, I still don't get it. This definitely is a Western though. As a group we viewed a total of 68 species. We had to cut the day short due to an incoming weather front. I hope you enjoyed these few photos of what we found. If the birders from my group are reading this, thank you very much for letting me tag along. It was an awesome experience. 

This was the trash for the trip, minus a couple of frisbees I gave away before I took this photo back at home. Being with a group and not having my own vehicle I was limited to what I could pick up. There was trash at every stop and a lot of it. Many Pennsylvanians travel to the beach for their vacations and with New Jersey being so close a lot of us do end up on the sandy shores there sometime in the year. Even though it isn't our state, it is our ocean and part of our world. If you visit the beach on your next vacation, please make sure not to leave anything behind and if you can take the time to take out a bag of trash, do so. 

Beltzville State Park (8-Dec-2016)

Beltzville, Beltzville, Beltzville, there is so much ground to cover at Beltzville. This was a cold day and I did not pick well as far as sites go. Had I thought about it a little more I would have picked an area where the sun was shining down away from the wind. The first section I started working on was along the Bauer Creek Channel in the shade. I did pick well as far as trash goes though. 

As soon as I got down to the lakeside I started finding trash and it didn't end until I took the trail out. The thing that killed me the most about this site was that every time I looked across the channel I could see the sun hitting what looked to be a nice warm bank on the other side.

One nice thing about the water being low, other than the access to the lakebed, is that I can get into the brush on the side that I can't work my kayak into when I am on the water at normal levels. There is a lot of trash tucked into these spots.

Added some lures to my collection. The one on the left was added, the one on the right was thrown. I did not know that spoons sometimes had applied stickers, I thought most were still painted.

Can you spot the syringe? I am sure this was thrown into the creek further upstream and floated down. The person who threw it in probably had no cares when he or she did, but it is something that you should care and think about. This is on the upper end of the lake flowing in. The current goes towards the beach area. Syringes can be found anywhere now, especially if you have children take note of this. I am sick of finding them.

This one was collected and disposed of in a manner directed by a PA Fish and Boat Commission Officer. If you happen to find any the best thing to do is contact local law enforcement and have them tell you their preferred method of disposal. I have been told different things from different agencies. 

This flat was the last section I worked on. Many items, some newer, some old, all had some degree of mud in or on them.

On the tree line I found the chair and I had a full pack so it was time to start heading back. 

Found this just into the tree line on my way out. It was given to Tyler Sacks who has helped out with other clean-ups. He has since built an all wood bottom to it and made a trash barge for his little brother. Another item that has a new life and although this one needed new parts, all of which are biodegradable. 

I found the nearest trash can and did my sort. I left the chair and the non-recyclables. Everything else was loaded in my car. Another trash adventure at Beltzville was complete!
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

Frances Slocum State Park (7-Dec-2016)

I was in the area visiting family and decided to do a small clean-up at Frances Slocum. This was only my second time to this park and I still have a lot of it to explore. My first stop was at a boat launch access and from here I worked my way along the bank to a small dam where I picked up most of the trash on this trip. 

The lake is the biggest attraction this park has. I do plan to get out on the water here sometime for a clean-up, but it will have to wait until the spring or summer. On the lake itself there were several dozen Common Mergansers. In this photo the white dot on the right is one, I couldn't get close enough to any for a good photo though. 

This was all of the trash from the first stop. Most lined the base of the dam. As usual the recyclables were loaded into my car and everything else was deposited in one of the cans near the launch. It seemed as though fishermen were the biggest litter offenders at this location. 

In addition to the Common Mergansers, I also came across some common mammals. The Grey Squirrel on the left was chowing down on something on the log and the young White-Tailed buck was nibbling on some small plants. From the angle of the photo of the buck you may not be able to tell it is a male, but it did have two small spikes.

I made another stop in the main portion of the park and took some trails. For the most part the trails away from the lake were pretty clean. On the lake edge and around a picnic area is where almost all of this was found. The kids throwing toy has already found a new home and I can happily say that this specific piece of trash is being used again before it will eventually be discarded. 

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