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.

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. 

It was another beautiful Spring in Glen Providence Park, but much later than the unusually hot spring of 2012… plants emerged as long as 17 days later! With such a marked difference from the previous Spring, it was a great opportunity to observe phenology– the study of timing in nature.

The lovely ephemeral Bloodroot emerged on April 3 in the same location we had noticed it last year (in fuller bloom) during our Ephemerals Walk on St. Patrick’s Day. So we did a little phenology test- in 2012, American Toads had emerged in force at the pond about 4 days after the Bloodroot flowers.  We predicted similar timing this year… and what do you know, the toads’ loud trilling at the pond began 5 days after the Bloodroot buds!  It was again fun to watch the antics of the dozens (hundreds?) of comical toads at the pond!

As the Bloodroot started to recede for the year, the enchanting ephemeral Trout Lily began to bloom, about 3 days after the toads congregated- we will definitely monitor the timing again in 2014! And we will add other plants to our phenology observations- like when the fern fiddleheads emerge among the patches of Trout Lily. There is so much to observe during Spring’s progression of blooms, from delicate Redbud flowers to the spectacular and elegant Silverbell. It was particularly exciting to find a small patch of the uncommon native ephemeral Trillium!

While the plants and local wildlife seem to respond to temperature cues, migrating birds and butterflies follow signals to migrate in the places they are wintering. The Wood Thrush started singing on May 5, four days later than last year, and we first noticed the Gray Catbird five days later than last year.  So those birds were not as delayed as the 17 days for local plants- which means migrating species can arrive out of sync with when their local food sources emerge.

We are endlessly intrigued watching the wildlife in the park- we saw an Eastern Ribbon snake wrapped around a Common Garter Snake, which was busy trying (unsuccessfully) to swallow a toad. The lucky toad hopped away a few minutes later! We also watched an amazing display by four Common Flickers flying in and out of a tree, and they appeared to be courting- they would look at each other and sway their heads from side to side, fan their lovely yellow tails, and do other showy maneuvers. You can see them in our photos below!

In our 1.1 Acre Project, we continued to document plants, wildlife and features in the construction area for the 3rd Street Dam, including the historical springs.

Whether working on our Early Spring Cleanup in March, exploring the park on our 1941 Nature Guide & Spring Ephemerals Walk in April, or helping with the CRC Streams Cleanup in May, Spring is simply enchanting throughout Glen Providence Park!

You can click on any photo below for a closer look, and scroll through them all- and you can also view them on our flickr page!  There are more pictures in our facebook albums, and you can compare our 2013 Spring to last year in our photojournals for March, April and May of 2012.

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