Spring emerges in waves of blooms around Glen Providence Park – starting with lovely ephemerals Bloodroot and Trout Lily. Soon after, trees start blossoming around the pond, with elegant Serviceberry followed by Silverbell, Redbud, and Black Cherry. Some of the more whimsical flowers in the park are those of the Horsechestnut tree found on the sledding hill, and the Buttonbush that we planted near the pond. 2015 was the first year I can remember seeing Rhododendron and earlier-blooming Mountain Laurel flowering in the park on the same day, in early June.

At the pond, we saw our first Black Ducks, and for the second year in a row, Solitary Sandpipers! In the woods, Pileated Woodpeckers made their usual dramatic (and sometimes loud) appearances. We spotted a Great Crested Flycatcher and a Hermit Thrush, a sweet bird with a similar ethereal song to the Wood Thrush. It was exciting to watch a pair of Baltimore Orioles over several weeks as they built and tended a nest – but unfortunately we think a predator got to the eggs. The orioles spend most of their time high in the canopy – their nest was over 50 feet up in a tree!

For our fourth year, we tracked the timing of the emergence in the park of both ephemeral Bloodroot flowers and American Toads. Each year, the toads have emerged at the pond 5 to 8 days after the Bloodroot buds appeared on the western hill, despite a 3-week variation in the timing of the Bloodroot. After the long-lasting 2014-2015 winter, the Bloodroot buds appeared on April 6, and the comical toads (with their loud trilling!) 8 days later on April 14. We started tracking the timing of other plants in the glen – it will be interesting to see if any patterns emerge. For more on phenology, the study of timing in nature, see our Spring 2013 photojournal.

Summer brought peaceful mornings in the woods with the shade of all those trees providing respite from the heat. Hundreds enjoyed summer afternoons at our Summer Concert Series, including a special 80th anniversary celebration for Glen Providence. Throughout the spring and summer, we invited the community to deepen its appreciation of the glen with monthly events for kids and adults including two cleanups and herpetology, stream life, tree, and nature walks.

Click on any of the chronological photos below for a closer look, or scroll through them all. You can compare our 2015 spring and summer to other years in my photojournals, starting in August 2011. And many of these photos have detailed captions in our Facebook albums.

We have monthly nature walks (or volunteer days) in Glen Providence Park, year-round! We’ve documented our Winter Bird Walk in January and Spring Cleanups in March and April – here we recount our other  2015 Nature Walks through July, including a photo gallery. Make sure to join us for some of our upcoming 2015 events – they are always free and open to the public!

February – Winter Nature & History Walk

Our 80th Anniversary History & Nature Walk may have been our coldest walk yet – in the teens with a cold wind! But we had a wonderful (intrepid!) group, and Marcia Tate and I had great time sharing information about the park. Attendees included a first-time visitor to the park, and a man who had not visited in 25 years. The snow started falling as we were finishing.

May – Spring Nature Walk

Led by Gary Stolz, we saw 28 species of birds including a Solitary Sandpiper(!), 4 species of turtles, a bullfrog, and a (likely pregnant!) Garter Snake, on a lovely spring morning! Many native plants were in bloom including Silverbell, Flowering Dogwood, Redbud, and Black Cherry trees; Trout Lilies, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, yellow violets, and even Trillium! Seventeen people joined our walk, which was part of Transition Town Media’s Happiness Week.

June – Tree Walk

It was a beautiful summer afternoon for a fun and educational tree walk, led by David Hewitt! A wealth of information, David fielded dozens of questions about trees and their identification, as at least 22 adults and children also explored some of the park’s springs, the pond life, damselflies and more. We saw Bluegill (fish) nests in the pond, flying ants emerging from a tree stump, learned how to tell American Sycamores from London Plane Trees, and so much more about trees!

July – Herpetology Walk

Twelve adults and 8 eagle-eyed kids had a delightful (early!) morning learning about and looking for reptiles and amphibians with Kyle Loucks! We found American Toads, Green Frogs, Bullfrogs, Dusky and Red-backed Salamanders, and Snapping and Painted Turtles – along with an amazing variety of fungi. We were able to safely pass the amphibians around for a closer look, before gently returning them to their habitat, in a clean plastic container – any lotion, soap, and even oil on our skin can harm them.

Thank you to everyone who attended these park events, and to our wonderful volunteer walk leaders! You can see photos in our gallery below – click on any photo for a closer look.

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.