A May Afternoon At Community Park.

We had some more sunshine here in Northeastern  Pennsylvania yesterday and I couldn’t wait to head outdoors after leaving my office. I didn’t have time to go far, so I decided to once again visit our local  local Community park.

When I visited last week I encountered quite a lot of wildlife and I was hoping for more of the same. I walked around the lake and noticed the abundance of flowers on both the high and low bush blueberry  or, as we call them in the coal regions, huckleberry bushes. . The bees are now back and they were busy gathering pollen from the many new flowers.

I also saw a new sight on the lake, one I haven’t seen in our area before, a loon. It was swimming, and diving, in the center of the lake and stayed there during  my entire walk. I love the  haunting calls these  birds make  at night. I wish I could have stayed to listen to it. Maybe another night, if it remains in the area.

The woods were quiet yesterday, and I only saw a few sparrows  and towhees on my first lap around the lake   These birds like fluttering in the underbrush near the ground.

I heard some geese in the distance and their honkong increased as I approached a pair on the water. They were clearly agitated. 

I thought it was me they were honking at but I soon realized there was another pair of geese on the water and they must have been protecting their territory. They clearly did not like each other. 

I continued my walk and I noticed many of the trees were now putting forth their first leaves including the maples. 

As I walked into the wetland area to the north of the lake I scared a few turtles and frogs into the waters before I was able to capture a photograph. I was able to capture this critter, I believe some type of flycatcher. 

Along the wetland paths were plenty of skunk cabbage which have grown quite large in the past few weeks. 

There wasn’t much more wildlife activity at the lake or park. Just a few robins and a lot of humans, fishing, walking, or playing and enjoying Spring on a sunny May Afternoon. I sure did. Here is a link to some more photographs from my hike in Community Park yesterday .https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/community-park-hazle-township-may-9-2016

“One may lack words to express the impact of beauty but no one who has felt it remains untouched. It is renewal, enlargement, intensification. The parks preserve it permanently in the inheritance of the American citizens.”
― Bernard DeVoto