Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Flock of Cedar Waxwings

Cedar Waxwing flock. It was 8:50 am on this over cast morning of April 27, 2010 when I saw a flock of birds feasting on the spring trees. At first I thought there must be a dozen. Then after shooting the photos it was clear that there were probably at least two dozen. As you can see there are at least seven in this one photo alone! Click on it for a larger version.

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Monday, April 26, 2010

Lower Providence Gem Under Siege by Sewer Pipeline

Images are of work done for a much smaller pipe...



Anyone who has visited Hoy Park in Lower Providence realizes what a beautiful resource we have here in Montgomery County. The tree-lined Perkiomen Creek (one of Pennsylvania's largest creeks) lazily wanders by and is joined by the Skippack Creek at this park. It's a great place to launch a kayak or take the family fishing. Unfortunately, this area is under siege. The Lower Perkiomen Valley Regional Sewer Authority (LPVSA) has planned to install a massive sewer line in this area. This pipe is so large it requires a ditch 40 ft wide and a 70 ft wide path for the machinery to install it. Not only will all the trees be removed from this wildlife filled floodplain, but the plan is to cross the creek 4X within a mile and a half span! Alternative plans which keep the pipeline on the Upper Providence side of the creek were previously in the works but were apparently rejected (for reasons which have not been clearly explained to the Lower Providence Township residents). These plans would have placed the pipeline along areas previously disturbed and would preserve the nature beauty of this area. An alternative could be a forced main which is a much smaller pipe which could be run alongside the bike path. Thus, grassroots effort is underway to force the reevaluation of the current plan
(more info at http://www.indianheadwatershed.com/
and on-line petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopthesewerinlp/).

All concerned citizens should take this opportunity to let the LPVRSA and their local representatives know how they feel about saving this precious resource. A rally is planned for May 7th, 2010 at 2pm at Hoy Park - many of our local, state, and federal representatives will be on hand to visit this area to evaluate whether it is worth saving. Please come show your support before it is too late.

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Saturday, April 24, 2010

Red ants

Took a walk with Josh and went to roll over a log to show him interesting things underneath, but it broke apart! Sorry ant colony!

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Vole

Vole feeding on the scraps the birds push out of the bird feeder.

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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Honey Bees that bores in wood..

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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Yellow

An early yellow flower. Found on the rocky upper banks of the Perkiomen creek. I am still trying to correctly identify this one.


Sunday, April 18, 2010

Pheasant remains

I took a walk late afternoon yesterday and found what I thought wasthe remains of a Red Tail Hawk, but after a friend pointed out what type of birds have this spur, I feel it is a pheasant. I assume the Bald Eagle that got it, but maybe it was a lucky fox. The bones were picked clean. Probably by the Black Vultures that have been around lately. Not all the bones were there, but some could have washed away in the rain storm a few weeks ago for they were on the sandbar island and very near the waters edge. Some of the feathers had mud on them.


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Saturday, April 17, 2010

Endangered and Threatened Species in Pennsylvania

I often use this link and often loose it so here it is. Plants, birds and mammals, Invertebrates, Fish, Reptiles, and Amphibians are linked here.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/wrcp/contents.aspx

but here seems to be a better updated (Thanks Scott/Tony)

http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/Factsheets.aspx#reptiles

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Pileated Woodpecker


Went out with the Indian Head Watershed Association to clean up below the Arcola Bridge. While we were waiting for people to show up three of us saw a Pileated Woodpecker. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to get a photo. But in reading about them I see they tend to make large rectangular excavations. Interesting because on one of my last walks I found this.

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Friday, April 16, 2010

Dinosaur footprint


Left manus impression of Rhynchosauroides from the lower Lockatong in Arcola, PA. Olsen, P.E., 1986.

I found this image on:
http://digsfossils.com/fossils/footprints_pa_lockatong.html

also check out the book The Beginning of the age of Dinosaurs, Faunal Change Across the Triassic. By Kevin Padian. You can find the text on Google Books. http://www.google.com/books?id=lssj8lR0zXMC&pg=PA66&dq=arcola+pennsylvania&cd=2#v=onepage&q=arcola%20pennsylvania&f=false

It states the fossil was collected by P. Olsen (Paul E. Olsen) and Cynthia Banach.

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Thursday, April 15, 2010

Black Vultures

I have seen this pair around here for the past week. The dogs have also been rolling in something very smelly. These were taken today, Thursday April 15, 2010 around 6:30 pm. Sunny day.

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Friday, April 09, 2010

Cormorant

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Saturday, April 03, 2010

Wood Ducks and Flicker

I took this 4/1/10 around 8 am. See all tree birds?

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Great Egret (Great White Heron)

3:30 pm on Saturday, April 3, 2010. Sunny. 69 degrees.
I had my 72 mm lens on to take photos of plants and I stumbled across this Great Egret!


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