May Arrives, And So Do The Song Birds, At The PPL Wetlands
It has been two weeks since I visited the PPL Wetlands and Riverlands in Salem Township in Luzerne County. And what a difference those two weeks made.Although it was overcast when I arrived early Saturday morning, the woods were green and alive with the sound of birds, frogs and insects.
In my opinion, there is no place as beautiful as the woods in May in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The trees take on a light green color that is the essence of new life.
Wildflowers added to the beauty. I believe these are bluets.
I heard the wonderful song of the first warbler of the Spring, this yellow warbler. Their song adds to the beauty of Spring in the wetlands.
There were many other song birds fluttering in the trees including this yellow rumped warbler,
The Baltimore orioles also returned. I saw over a dozen in the trees on my walk.
Catbirds also added their songs to the chorus,
as did the loud, noisy red-winged blackbirds.
I also saw a few wood ducks on my hike but they flew off before I got near them. The geese were not as elusive and many were now paired and watching their nest. It won’t be long until ducklings and goslings are swimming in the ponds and canals of the wetlands.
There were also robins, woodpeckers and sparrows in the wetlands. However, there were periods of light rain and not the best conditions for taking good photographs.
In addition to the birds I heard the buzzing of bees, wasps and flies and well as the sound of the frogs that lined the banks of the canals and ponds in the wetland.
It was cloudy so there weren’t the usual number of turtles sunning themselves on the logs, rocks and banks of the wetlands but a few still crawled out of the warming waters.
I walked to Lake-Took-A-While where I found the shores lined with fishermen. I returned to the wetlands where I found more flowers ready to bloom including the soon to bloom unusual jack-in-the pulpit,
and the pretty pink.
The first may apple or mandrake flowers were also in bloom now.
And then I smelled the heavenly scent of this flower now in bloom. It will continue to bloom for most of the Spring and early summer.
As I was ending my hike, breaks appeared in the clouds and the sun appeared. I had a lot of chores to do at home or I would have remained in these beautiful wetlands. I have traveled to many places but I really believe there is no better place than Northeastern Pennsylvania in the Spring. Here is a link to the gallery of some more photographs I took on my hike. PPL Wetland hike May 4 2019.
May, more than any other month of the year, wants us to feel most alive. Fennel Hudson
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