August Wildlife Sightings

Sep 19, 2011 by

Brave Painted(?) Turtle riding Snapping Turtle!

Kind of a photo journal of the park… we had fun starting our quest to document the wildlife in the park, camera in hand!

We discovered that turtles are tricky to photograph with all that glare from their shells.  That glare can also make them hard to identify.  We got some expert help, and it turns out the majority of turtles in the pond are invasive Red-Eared Sliders.  There may also be a few Painted Turtles.  And be wary of the bite of the Common Snapping Turtle!

Green Heron

 

 

We became acquainted with the Green Heron, patiently fishing at its favorite spots around the pond. The pair of Belted Kingfishers proved just too fast for us to photograph!

Dragonfly

 

We were enchanted by the Dragonflies circling the pond.

Ant on mushrooms

 

 

 

 

And we learned to look up close to uncover more of the park’s charms, with an ant on mushrooms and the curious looking Spined Micrathena Spider.

Spined Micrathena Spider

 

 

Northern Water Snake

Crayfish

 

 

 

Along Broomall’s Run we encountered a Northern Water Snake, a Crayfish, American Toads, and the adorable Pickerel Frog.

Pickerel Frog

We heard a report of, and then spotted, a possible muskrat swimming in the pond.

Jewelweed and Pokeberry provided a colorful backdrop for our wanderings.

 

Turtles on fallen oak

 

 

For a few days after Hurricane Irene, turtles enjoyed a new basking spot- an oak that had fallen into the pond.  According to our count of its rings, the oak was 94 years old!  The tree couldn’t stay in the pond indefinitely, so County Parks removed it several days later.

You can click on any photo to see a larger image, and scroll through the rest.  And our photo albums on facebook have all these park photos and more.

Discover these creatures for yourself- look for them when you visit the park!

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4 Comments

  1. christine

    Your posts are my favorite facebook reads!!!! Thanks for the great info!

  2. Mike

    I have seen numerous chipmunks, turtles, snakes, fish both large & small and what I suspect was a muskrat going into the pond. I only got a brief glimpse so the muskrat or perhaps large common rat that my wife and I saw go into the pond.

    • stephanie

      I’ll bet it was a muskrat- I was actually able to photograph one in September. There are at least 2 in the pond. We’ll be posting the photo soon- it is already in our facebook Wildlife photo album.

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