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Friends of Glen Providence Park started in July 2011 in response to the threat from the proposed replacement of a high-hazard dam and vehicular road at Third Street, which would have destroyed 1.1 serene and wooded acres of the park. We advocated extensively for 12 years to minimize harm to the glen’s woods, wetlands, plants, and wildlife. As the dam has been removed, and Media Borough currently plans a pedestrian-bicycle bridge at Third Street – with stream restoration upstream at Broomall’s Lake Country Club (BLCC) –  we have the following observations, concerns, and requests: 

Environmental & Historical Considerations

Broomall’s Run is a connected ecosystem, encompassing Broomall’s Lake Country Club upstream and Glen Providence Park downstream: 

• Project will impact water quality and  stream health in the park, and its 19 reptile & amphibian, 130 bird, and 58+ tree species 
• The park’s acre abutting the bridge is a rich habitat with  natural springs, seeps, and wetlands, and 76 mature trees
• County’s Conservation Easement with BLCC – meant to protect the connected ecosystem and the park – is not mentioned in the contractors’ proposals and should be prioritized

Glen Providence Park is a historic and natural resource for Delaware County, Media Borough, and Upper Providence: 

• Donated in 1935 as a bird sanctuary and arboretum
• Structures and trails built by  Works Progress Administration 
• Park determined eligible for National Historic Register in 2002 
• This historic and natural setting should be reflected in the project design

Borough stormwater management and resulting erosion: 

• Stream erosion from stormwater runoff at Third Street is arguably one of the biggest current threats to the park
• The resulting large downed trees and undercut trails and streambanks create environmental and safety issues
• This critically important issue, which is omitted from the project parameters for the Third Street Bridge, should be addressed

Design Process & Public Participation

The Third Street Project is a state-funded transportation project, with PennDOT requiring:

• Analysis of alternative designs based on minimizing harm to adjacent park
• Public participation in design reviews

PennDOT’s definition of Key Stakeholders:

• Extends beyond property owners
• Includes environmental advocates, park and trail users
• Considers the plant and animal life in the project area

Public input is valuable:

• Offers resources, perspective and experience
• Fosters public support during construction
• Informs project manager’s expectations of professional team

The public should be regularly updated on the project progress, timeline, and the contractors’ monthly status reports through:

• Borough Website and newsletter
• Council Workshop or Legislative Meetings
• Special Public Hearings 

We ask that Media Borough Council actively consider and protect Glen Providence Park in the design and construction of the Third Street Pedestrian-Bicycle Bridge.

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You can view and download our handout below.

There is much more information about the Third Street Project on our website:

• Background and updates: https://glenprovidencepark.org/3rd-street-bridge-dam/
• Articles in our Dam/Bridge Category: https://glenprovidencepark.org/category/3rd-street-dam-bridge-media/

Look for developments over the next 18 to 24 months on the Media Borough website:

• Third Street Status Reports: https://www.mediaborough.com/336/Third-Street-Status-Reports
• Third Street Pedestrian Bridge Information: https://www.mediaborough.com/337/Third-Street-Pedestrian-Bridge-Informati

For National Public Lands Day*, Friends of Glen Providence Park will again plant native trees and shrubs in the glen, this time on the Mountain Laurel Trail. This is our 11th annual NPLD project, working to improve wildlife habitat, reduce erosion, and beautify the park! 

Native Tree & Shrub Planting on the Mountain Laurel Trail!

Saturday, October 7
Rain date Sunday, October 8
9:00am-12:00 noon
Glen Providence Park – Main entrance
State Street

Our planting day is one of our most popular and fun events, and we are a part of the largest nationwide volunteer effort for public lands! We are incredibly grateful to Delaware County Parks & Recreation for providing funds for this project, and to the Delaware County Conservation District for the use of its Conservation Planting Trailer and supplies.

To help us plan our time effectively, and to plan for refreshments, we ask that you RSVP for this event – please let us know the number of volunteers in your party.

Volunteering details:

We will update this description as we identify other relevant details for volunteers, and we will email registered volunteers with more details and logistics.

Estimated time: 9:00am-12:00pm
Lunch and drinks will be provided for registered volunteers.

Activities will include:

• digging holes for the trees and shrubs
• planting trees and shrubs
• installing deer protection around trees and shrubs
• watering as needed

More logistics:

• We will provide the equipment, including shovels, spades, rakes, and wheelbarrows – but if you have favorite tools, feel free to bring them! If you do bring your own tools, please label them with your name.
• Bring work gloves if you have them.

Rain plan:
Our rain date is Sunday, October is 8 at 9:00 am. If the weather is not clear, we will post here and on our facebook wall by 8:45 am Saturday advising whether we will use the rain date.

Thank you, we hope to see you on National Public Lands Day!

Enjoy a gallery of past NPLD days in the park!

*National Public Lands Day is held this year on September 23rd, but we are celebrating two weeks later.

The Saturday before Christmas, nine of us ambled in Glen Providence Park on a beautiful, cold, sunny morning for the Christmas Bird Count. It has become a fond holiday tradition (and reunion!), with most of our group having participated in multiple Bird Counts. Thank you to everyone who volunteered their eyes and ears that morning!

We documented 306 birds of 25 species – with the quantity due to eight flocks of Canada Geese flying overhead. Some of our most exciting sightings were a Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, and several woodpeckers and vultures. Once again this year, the Great Horned Owl that has been calling many nights around the park did not make an appearance that day, but we heard it just the night before.

It was the 123rd year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list of 25 species for Saturday, December 17, 2022:

Canada Goose – 171
Mourning Dove – 17
Black Vulture – 1
Turkey Vulture – 6
Red-tailed Hawk – 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 3
Downy Woodpecker – 2
Hairy Woodpecker – 3
Pileated Woodpecker – 1
Blue Jay – 3
American Crow – 3
Fish Crow – 9
Carolina Chickadee – 5
Tufted Titmouse – 7
White-breasted Nuthatch – 6
Brown Creeper – 1
Winter Wren – 1
Carolina Wren – 7
American Robin – 22
House Finch – 7
American Goldfinch – 4
Dark-eyed Junco – 8
White-throated Sparrow – 7
Song Sparrow – 3
Northern Cardinal – 6

A few photos from that morning are below, and a video by Carol Carmon…

Several Friends of Glen Providence Park citizen scientists recently gathered in the park to test a water sample for a number of factors which indicate stream health.

Broomall’s Run, a tributary of Ridley Creek, enters the park at Third Street and exits close to Baltimore Pike. Until recently the stream was dammed, creating an artificial lake on the Broomall’s Lake Country Club property adjacent to the park. Part of the stream is currently directed through a manmade pond within the park.

The water collected was tested on-site for temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, pH, phosphates and turbidity. Future testing will include coliform bacteria and macroinvertebrates.

The Friends of Glen Providence Park hope to understand how the stream compares with other water sources in the Commonwealth. In addition, area residents are curious about the impact of stormwater runoff which can also be impacted by pesticide and herbicide use in developed areas of the Borough.

The nonprofit organization, created to preserve and enhance the county’s first public park, is planning to continue periodic testing in various areas of the stream. Additional volunteers are welcome – please email us at FriendsoftheGlen [at] gmail [dot] com if you’re interested!

The events are designed for children ages 4 to 8, but children of all ages are welcome.

The four seasonal events are:

Winter: Winter Woods Alive – Saturday, February 26
Spring: Tremendous Trees – Saturday, May 21
Summer: Magnificent Monarchs – Saturday, August 20
Fall: Lovable Leaves – Saturday, November 19

Each event is limited to 10 children, so registration by email to FriendsoftheGlen [at] gmail [dot] com is required. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Times, details, and logistics will be posted for each event on our Calendar.

The Saturday before Christmas, eight of us headed out on a very overcast morning in Glen Providence Park for the Christmas Bird Count. The air was damp, making it feel colder than the thermometer’s 40 degrees! But the Bird Count never fails to be a literal and figurative breath of fresh air in the midst of the holiday bustle, and we were accompanied by wonderful people. We documented 140 birds of 28 species – second only to last year’s wintry count, when we documented 29 species!

Some of our most exciting sightings were a Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, and Red-shouldered Hawks! Alas, the Great Horned Owl that has been calling many nights around the park did not make an appearance that day, but having heard it just the night before, we were able to include it in our count for the week.

It was the 122nd year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list of 28 species for Saturday, December 18, 2021:

Mallard – 10
Mourning Dove – 18
Turkey Vulture – 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1
Cooper’s Hawk – 1
Red-shouldered Hawk – 1
Belted Kingfisher – 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 5
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 1
Blue Jay – 5
American Crow – 6
Fish Crow – 5
Carolina Chickadee – 2
Tufted Titmouse – 5
White-breasted Nuthatch – 3
Brown Creeper – 1
Winter Wren – 1
Carolina Wren – 2
Hermit Thrush – 1
American Robin – 46
House Finch – 3
Dark-eyed Junco – 6
White-throated Sparrow – 9
Song Sparrow – 1
Northern Cardinal – 2

It was overcast enough that it was hard to see the birds with binoculars, much less capture their picture, but here are a few photos from the Bird Count and Christmas Bird Count Week…

Carol Carmon’s video on YouTube (below) captures the morning beautifully!

You have likely noticed the seemingly whimsical stacks of rocks along the stream in Glen Providence Park. People have also been moving rocks in the stream to dam and redirect sections, and presumably to make it easier to cross on foot. We believe these activities are well-intentioned, but moving rocks in and around the stream has unintended negative consequences. 

First, it is harmful to wildlife

To quote Ben Lorson, of the PA Fish and Boat Commission’s Habitat Division, “A stream’s bottom — the substrate — has its own micro-habitats. The substrate provides the base of the aquatic food chain — from algae to macro-invertebrates all the way up to game fish. The surfaces of the rocks and the cracks and crevices between them are very important as habitat…”  

And from ausableriver.org: “Salamanders and crayfish also make their homes under rocks, and rock moving can destroy their homes, and even lead to direct mortality of these creatures. Every single rock is potentially a home to the larval stages of aquatic insects, including dragonflies, damselflies, mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies, and many others. They cling to rocks and capture drifting food particles. By moving and stacking rocks, the insects that are attached to or living on the rocks can be desiccated and burned by the sun.”

It is also causing erosion

Much of the rock-moving that has occurred has directed water outwards towards the streambanks, where it is worsening the already severe erosion. Large trees have been undercut by the stream and fallen. Over the years, our Friday morning Conservation Crew has worked to remove log jams in the stream — this is important to direct water away from the streambanks. Constructing dams, redirections, and crossings in the stream has the opposite, negative effect — it directs water to the sides, towards the already-severely-eroded streambanks. 

The County is looking at long-term solutions for the pond and stream to address the ongoing erosion and other issues, but it will take several years before large-scale solutions can be implemented. Until then, it is especially important that the water flow towards the center of the stream and away from the streambanks to minimize the already severe erosion.

We discourage any moving of rocks in or around the stream, without first consulting with Delaware County Parks & Recreation and/or the Delaware County Conservation District. 

It was a beautiful spring morning on Saturday for our 9th Spring Bird Walk in Glen Providence Park! Alas, we had canceled last year’s due to Covid, so we were especially excited to hold the walk again this year. It was the 4th bird walk that Dave Eberly has led for us. Predictably we heard more birds than we saw, but we identified seven warbler species, Baltimore Orioles, a Cooper’s Hawk, and we even managed to document a new species for our Park Bird List, the Gray-cheeked Thrush! That brings the number of species documented in Glen Providence Park to 129.

Thank you very much to Dave Eberly for leading yet another bird walk for us, to the wonderful group who attended, and to Carol Carmon for videoing. Watch the video on YouTube for an explanation of bird behavior during migration, what eBird is used for, and a glimpse of some of the birds seen on our walk.

Here is our complete checklist of 37 species for Saturday, May 15, 2021, as entered on eBird:

Mourning Dove – 1
Common Loon – 1
Turkey Vulture – 3
Cooper’s Hawk – 1
Red-tailed Hawk – 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Pileated Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 2
Red-eyed Vireo – 4
Blue Jay – 4
American Crow – 2
Carolina Chickadee – 2
Tufted Titmouse – 4
White-breasted Nuthatch – 1
House Wren – 3
Carolina Wren – 2
Gray Catbird – 15
Gray-cheeked Thrush – 1 – A new species for our Park Bird List!
Wood Thrush – 5
American Robin – 10
American Goldfinch – 4
White-throated Sparrow – 1
Song Sparrow – 3
Baltimore Oriole – 2
Red-winged Blackbird – 2
Brown-headed Cowbird – 1
Common Yellowthroat – 2
American Redstart – 1
Northern Parula – 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler – 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 1
Canada Warbler – 1
Scarlet Tanager – 1
Northern Cardinal – 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 1

5/27: Edited to add YouTube link

Join us Friday mornings in Glen Providence Park! We remove invasive shrubs and vines that strangle beneficial native plants and crowd the trails, and work on other projects to support plants and wildlife in the park. Enjoy conversation and soak in the natural beauty of the glen – while making a positive impact.

Conservation Crew

Friday mornings
(weather permitting)
9:30 – 11:30 am
Registration required:
Email us at FriendsoftheGlen [at] gmail [dot] com

Since 2013, we’ve removed over 375 bags of invasive plants – liberating native trees and shrubs that were strangled and weighted down by vines – while beautifying and keeping open the trails. Some of our other projects? We’ve painted trail blazes, measured trail distances for trail posts, carried in native trees for planting projects, cleared branches from fallen trees damming the stream, repeatedly cleared the pond intake from blockages, and removed smaller limbs from fallen trees to unblock trails until County Parks could get in with chainsaws.

Logistics:

• Please take a quick read over our Invasive Plant Removal Guidelines
• Wear work clothes – ideally long sleeves & pants – including appropriate sturdy footwear.
• Please bring gloves and pruners.
• We will provide bags and any additional tools.
• Be prepared for hills and uneven terrain.
• We send out an email to our Crew on Thursdays with that week’s project and meeting location, with the next morning’s forecast in mind. Whether you can join us once or weekly, email us at FriendsoftheGlen [at] gmail [dot] com!
• We generally work when the temperature is between 35 and 80 degrees.

Coming soon:

• We’re usually too busy to snap photos, but we’ll add a few here from some past work days!

Glen Providence Park is owned and managed by Delaware County, and we work with the permission of, and in consultation with, Delaware County Parks & Recreation and the Delaware County Conservation District, in addition to consulting other natural lands managers and resources.

We take a pragmatic approach and prioritize those invasive plants that both cause the most harm and are effective to remove. We do not do structural trail maintenance or use power tools.

Join Friends of Glen Providence Park in our 8th year participating in the Christmas Bird Count, the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey!  In this early-winter bird census, thousands of volunteers across the US, Canada, and many countries go out over a 24-hour period to count birds. Researchers and conservation biologists use the data to study the long-term health and status of bird populations.

119th Annual Christmas Bird Count

Saturday, December 15
8:00-10:00am
Rain, snow, or shine!* 
Park entrance at 3rd & West Streets

Slow down for a morning and take a break from the holiday rush!

Logistics

• Please note the location– we will meet at the 3rd & West Street park entrance
• *Rain, snow, or shine – but in the event of high winds, we will post on Facebook and our website that morning whether we will meet. 
• Be prepared for steep hills and rugged, possibly muddy and/or icy terrain
• Experienced and novice birdwatchers welcome!
• Of course, bring your binoculars and bird guides!

Friends of Glen Providence Park will submit our results to the CBC Compiler for Delaware County. We will also post the results on our website!