October 8, 2016
Documenting a late morning visit to the National Wildlife Reserve located in the city of Philadelphia. Overcast, and then it started to rain in the latter parts of the visit. Lots of pictures as we look at how the place looks different from a visit in the summer, what is still growing, what creatures are still about, and what creatures might be passing through following their seasonal migratory patterns.
The reserve essentially consists of three main areas; a tidal creek, an non-tidal pond, and a small wooded area with a mix of hardwoods and pines. The western part of the reserve is tidal marsh with the creek flowing through and a few trails I have not been on yet.
My usual loop is to go on the trail between the creek and the pond and then loop around the southern end of the pond to come back along the pond and through the woods. The woods is the best place to look for warblers and other small birds that migrate through.
First, a quick observation about the pond — it’s at a much lower water level than my previous visits.
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
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The main parking lot is to the north of the pond. There is also a small Nature Center here with displays, a list of the birds sighted that day, restrooms, and some small meeting areas.
The gray overcast is sort of low diffuse light was not ideal for photographs. A lot of the birds are also fairly shy about sitting in the open.
On the last visit the area near the boardwalk was swarming with tree swallows. Those appear to have moved on, but there are still a large number of insect-eating swallows about. I think these are Sand Martins (aka Bank Swallows.)
Five seconds after I took the above picture the entire flock *exploded* into flight down the creek as a small hawk or merlin came swooping in. The hawk failed to catch anything even as it pursued them for 50-100 meters down the creek.
There were also a few flocks of shorebirds around.
Since it started raining before I got to far down along the pond I cut the loop short and planned to head over towards the woods to look for warblers. However, I noted LBJ activity in a tree right along the trail and took a closer look.
Open water in the middle of the pond had a lot of ducks roaming about in the fairly shallow water. Duck weed and easy to reach aquatic plants. I did not get to the southern end of the pond where there is more open water (and also some brushy areas) but that seemed to be where a lot of geese were congregated. I also saw a few more Great Egrets distributed about where they were hunting.
What is passing through the woods and ponds where you live right now?
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