Spring-Summer 2014 Photojournal

Mar 20, 2015 by Stephanie

After a long, cold, snowy winter, 2014 brought a later spring than usual in Glen Providence Park – it snowed as late as St. Patrick’s Day. Early spring ephemeral flowers bloomed in the park about 4 days later than in 2013, which had been 17 days later than the very warm Spring of 2012!

Spring bird sightings brought our Park Bird List up to 112 species with additions including Wild Turkey(!), Worm-eating Warbler, Cooper’s and Broad-winged Hawks, and a Mother’s Day Yellow-throated Vireo! We observed a Pileated Woodpecker over several days as it bored a series of holes in a tree, and watched a pair of Tufted Titmouse take deliveries of moss to their nest. Exciting sightings at the pond were remarkably-patterned Wood Ducks, and Solitary Sandpipers!

For our third year, we tracked the timing of the emergence in the park of both emphemeral Bloodroot flowers and American Toads. Each year, the toads have emerged at the pond 5-6 days after the Bloodroot buds appeared on the western hill, or 4-5 days after the full Bloodroot flowers. In 2014, the Bloodroot buds appeared on April 7, and the toads 5 days later on April 12 – the same day as the 60th Anniversary Great Media Easter Egg Hunt! You can read a father’s charming account of taking his daughters to the Egg Hunt and to see the toads at the pond. For more on “phenology,” the study of timing in nature, see our Spring 2013 photojournal.

In Summer, Delaware County Parks & Recreation did substantial work in the park, with emergency streambank repairs by the pond, and repairs to the historical stage from a fallen 110-year-old White Ash. We watched fly fishing lessons at the pond by Delco Manning Trout Unlimited and Sporting Gentleman, enjoyed our third year of summer concerts in the park, and we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary!

Click on any photo below for a closer look, or scroll through them all. You can compare our 2014 spring and summer to other years in my photojournals, starting in August 2011. And many of these photos have more detailed captions in our Facebook albums.