Ice, (And A Very Little Snow) Arrive At The Susquehanna Wetlands

It was foggy at my home in Hazle Township in Luzerne early last Saturday morning.  However, this week when  I drove to the Susquehanna Wetlands in Salem Township, about 15 miles away,  it was mostly clear. This was just the opposite of the previous Saturday when  it was clear at my home and foggy in the Wetlands. When I arrived I found the gate to the access road to the wetlands closed for the Winter.

This meant I had to walk in about an extra 1/4 of a mile to the parking lot. It was a seasonably cold 35 degrees when I arrived,

with  a  light  frost on the dried goldenrod flowers,

and the still green garlic mustard leaves.

A few white tail deer and rabbits ran across the road as I walked toward the parking lot but they were to quick for my camera.

I took my usual walk down to the ancient Susquehanna River, to check  the water level and to possibly see one of the family of bald eagles that nest  nearby. The water level was high and there were no eagles.

I walked into the wetlands,

and was greeted by the cheerful songs of a couple of Carolina wrens. This one was chattering along the trail as I passed.

Although the temperature was above freezing, we did have a few cold days this past week   and the waters on the canals and ponds in the wetlands were covered with a thin layer of ice.

The  ice will  send the wading birds, the wood ducks, mallards, great blue herons,  to the ice free river or larger lakes until they,  too , freeze. 

As I  continued my hike and came to the  area  where I saw the mink on my hike a week earlier. I was hoping to see it again but I didn’t. I did see a muskrat on the nearby pond, swimming in  the cold water where ice had not yet formed.  It watched as I approached,

swam in a circle with it’s eyes fixed on me, and then quickly submerged into the cold water.

Surrounding this pound are many poison ivy,  green briar, and winterberry trees and, as usual a lot of birds feeding on the berries.

I saw the usual, white-throated sparrows,

the song sparrows, and ,

the swamp sparrows, in the  thickets around  the pond.

Higher up in the now naked trees branches were some American goldfinches,

a hairy woodpecker,

a smaller downy woodpecker,

and a noisy red-bellied woodpecker.

There was also a large flock of female red-winged blackbirds,

high in the tree tops. The  large flocks of  cedar waxwings  I have  been seeing the last  few weeks  were not around  this week.

I continued my usual routine and was able to walk to the Water Fowl pond on one of the two paths . The other path was still flooded.  

There was ice,  but no water fowl.  on the Water Fowl pond,

so I started my mile hike to the river lands area of the small nature preserve. Surprisingly I saw very  little bird activity as I walked on the leaf covered trail.

The wetlands were now dreary with mostly brown and gray colors , however a few intermediate wood  ferns,

and  flat-branched tree clubmoss or princess pine  still provided some green color. The princess pine remind me of small Christmas trees.

I walked to the river lands under  some cool clouds that formed in the blue skies.  The weak December sun warmed it up a little bit but it was still a cold morning.

And I found something we have had very little of this season, snow, this was all that remained of an inch or so that fell during the week. This is very unusual for  Northeastern Pennsylvania. We usually have a few inches by now and in some  years we would  have had plowable snow.  We had one of the mildest November’s on record.

As I approached the river lands I  encountered a large flock of cedar waxwings. They were perched in the trees along the trail,

and occasionally flew to the  crabapple trees growing along Lake Took-A-While

and rose hip berries growing along the canal  on the other side  of the path along the lake.

I enjoyed watching these graceful  birds feed before I continued my hike  along the  lake.

Lake Took-A-While reflected the clear blue skies. and

 A great blue heron was perched on the other side of  the  lake.

I walked to the far end of the lake where I saw a male mallard duck  hanging with a  small flock of Canada geese,

the  female mallard duck was nearby on the waters of the lake.

I began my two mile hike back to my Jeep,

when I heard the chatter of a belted kingfisher. I saw a splash across the lake. The kingfisher caught a fish,

and was trying to swallow it perched on a branch across the lake . It was  hard to get good photos at this distance  but I watched the kingfisher finally swallow the fish,

and fly off looking for another one.

The skies cleared  and I walked under the weak December sun.

I again stopped to watch the large flock  cedar waxwings still  feeding along the lake.

I could watch these beautiful birds all day.

I entered the ,mostly lifeless wetlands.  Other then the birds and muskrats, and maybe a deer, mink  or squirrel  there is not much other life in the dark days of December.

The  turtles, frogs, snakes, wasps, cicadas, and so many other insects I enjoy seeing and hearing are silent now. And no wildflowers or  green leaves on the trees.  .  It is a somber time of year,  only the leftover berries,  and the brown Japanese bristle grass,

or cattails remain.

However, just as I was nearing the parking lot I was surprised to see a hermit thrush perched on a branch above the trail.  I have seen wood thrushes here in the wetlands but not many hermit thrushes.

It is a beautiful bird. Some are short migrants to the southern United States while other migrate here for the Winter.  I hope it stays here this Winter . Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with more photos of the birds  and cedar waxwings I saw on my five mile hike. Susquehanna Wetlands birds December 9 2023.

I returned to the parking lot, disappointed I didn’t see the mink or river otters that I saw in previous hikes. However, as I walked near the   river I was excited  to see two mature bald eagles fly from a tree on the banks of the river. One flew across down river but the other across the river. The branches kept me from getting any photos , except this one , when it landed in a tree on the other side of the river. I wish I could have got better photos to share, but I was grateful to have seen this magnificent birds in flight.

I finished my hike under the bare trees along the access road. Once again the wetlands rewarded me with a peaceful hike and some wildlife sightings, even on this cold December day.  It remains one of my favorite hikes, year round. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with more photos from  my five mile hike. Susquehanna Wetlands  December 9 2023.

“December’s wintery breath is already clouding the pond, frosting the pane, obscuring summer’s memory.” – John Geddes