The (Not so) Rural Pennsylvanian

  • Some Local Gems Preserved

    Rushton Woods Preserve is an 86-acre owned by the Willistown Conservation Trust. The preserve has an impressive complex of meadows, wetlands, and mature woodland for visitors to explore. You can hike trails through the upland forest of beech, maple, oak, and tulip poplars, and then follow the trails down to Okehocking Run.

    The property is a popular spot for birding, and the scrub shrub demonstration area is a favorite stopover for migrating songbirds including warblers and chats. Rushton Woods Preserve is also home to Rushton Farm and the Rushton Conservation Center, Rushton Farm CSA and the location of a variety of WCT community and educational events.

    Looks like some old beehives.

    Nearby one finds Kirkwood Preserve, where warm and cool season grasses comprise the majority of this 102-acre Preserve, providing important nesting and foraging habitat for grassland birds. The Preserve features over 4 miles of pedestrian and equestrian trails, a half-mile stretch of Crum Creek, and 8 acres of upland and riparian woodland. Kirkwood Preserve is part of an Audubon-designated Important Bird Area (IBA), a global network of sites recognized for their outstanding value to bird conservation.

    The preserve is popular with walkers, hikers and birders.
    Some of the nearby farms.

  • It’s a Wilder Life

    Powdermill Nature Reserve is an environmental research center that is operated by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
    Established in 1956, Powdermill serves as a field station for long-term studies of natural populations, and now forms the core of the museum’s Center for Biodiversity and Ecosystems. The reserve encompasses 928.17 hectares, which includes forests, fields, developed land, and ponds and streams.

    It is located in the Laurel Highlands, near Rector, Pennsylvania and is well known for its avian research. The Center is one of the longest continually-running bird banding stations in the United States. I had visited on a previous trip, which you can read about here.

    Outside the Nature Center.
    There are lots of interesting exhibits inside. Check out this bluegill.
    Looks like a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk.
    A Ruffed Grouse, the state bird.
    This corn snake is another resident.

  • A Favorite Location

    One of my favorite day trips is to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, a near 6,000 acre  tract managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission primarily for waterfowl, grassland nesting birds, and wetland dependent species. The facility hosts an interactive visitor center, seasonal wildlife driving tour, and over twenty miles of hiking trails. There are other recreational activities available such as wildlife viewing, boating, special hunts, and picnicking. Middle Creek is one of just six Globally Important Bird Areas in the state and straddles Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

    I particularly like the view of these hills from the wildlife driving tour road.

    This tree swallow doesn’t seem to like me.
    It was fun to see this rabbit near the road.
    It was even better when a friend joined.

  • A Tranquil Oasis

    The Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve is a 50 acre nature reserve adjacent to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. The Reserve includes native landscapes, trails, meadows, gardens, an Environmental Learning Barn, Nature Explore Certified play spaces, pond, wetlands, and more. The property is open to the public for recreation, conservation, and education.

    The reserve is named after Winnie Palmer, the wife of famed golfer Arnold Palmer, who was instrumental in the preservation of the land. More about the Reserve can be found on their website. at http://www.wpnr.org/ .

    Beautiful open meadow habitat.
    The Environmental :Learning Barn.
    Fantastic views of St. Vincent College.

    On the way back to Ligonier I stopped to take a look at the Loyalhanna Creek Causeway. The creek is popular with boaters and recreational trout fishermen.

  • A Delaware Covered Bridge

    The Ashland Covered Bridge, also known as Ashland Bridge or Barley Mill Road Covered Bridge, is a covered bridge over Red Clay Creek on Barley Mill Road (near the junction of Brackenville Road) in Ashland in New Castle County, Delaware. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

    It is a Town lattice truss bridge following a design of Ithiel Town, built about 1860. It is almost identical to the Wooddale Bridge. It adjoins the Ashland Nature Center and is one of the last remaining covered bridges in Delaware..

    The Town lattice truss.
    I loved the Kingfisher on this building at the Ashland Nature Center.
    A stream at the Nature Center.

  • A Few From This Summer

    I rather liked this panorama shot of Lake Wallenpaupack from the overlook near the dam. When you’re there, look up to your right and you might see an osprey nest in season.

    Lake Wallenpaupack

    Closer to home, here is a shot from Kirkwood Preserve (in Chester County).

  • Once More Into Delaware

    April and May are prime times for birding at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. The weather was beautiful on a recent trip. Here are a few photos of what I saw.

    This egret had the Beaver Pond to itself.
    Two avocets at cross purposes.
    Looking like a school master with errant pupils – great and snowy egrets.
    A relaxing bask in Finnis Pool.
    A beautiful redbud in bloom.
    Finally, the worst picture of the cutest pied billed grebe ever.

  • A Little Piece of Paradise

    I made two recent trips to Dixon Meadow Preserve in Montgomery County to see a sora (seen) and a yellow crowned night heron (not seen), This Preserve provides some great bird habitat in the suburbs, especially in connection with the adjacent Erdenheim Farm. With its 14 acres rand boardwalk measuring nearly two-thirds of a mile, the Preserve is a haven for birders, walkers and those who simply enjoy the area’s natural beauty

    Purchased by the McCausland family in 2009, Erdenheim farm is home to prize winning Cheviot Sheep, Black Angus cattle, and elegant Morgan Horses. Situated on close to 450 acres, Erdenheim Farm remains one of the last sanctuaries of pastoral life within the greater Philadelphia area.

    A view of Dixon Meadow Preserve,
    A stream wanders through the Preserve and under the boardwalk.
    Redbud in bloom.
    Erdenheim Farm Black Angus at twilight.

  • A Stoneleigh Christmas

    The Stoneleigh Natural Garden in Montgomery County is a recent addition to the the Natural Lands Trust. The mansion house on the property hosted a Christmas open house on a recent weekend. Although the property is open all but Mondays, Christmas, and Thanksgiving, the house is open only for special events. This property has been used as a residence since 1877, with the current house dating to the turn of the twentieth century. The history of the property can be found here.

    After entering the house you soon come to the grand staircase

    This is quite an impressive staircase.
    This room also holds a large fireplace.
    There are some beautiful stained glass windows to the side of the fireplace (with some additional commentary from yours truly).
    There was a lovely Christmas tree just off the dining room
    There is beautiful woodwork throughout the house.
    This plant needs no introduction.
    A look out one of the upstairs windows.
    The view down an upstairs hall.

    I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and will focus on the exterior and grounds in upcoming posts.

  • A Visit to Powdermill Nature Reserve

    On my way to Linn Run State Park, I came across the Powdermill Nature Reserve of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The Museum is in Pittsburgh, but the Powdermill Reserve is in a beautiful area of the Laurel Highlands. The reserve’s website can be found here.

    Welcome to Powdermill Nature Reserve.

     Powdermill Nature Reserve is a field station and laboratory where researchers do long-term studies of natural populations in western Pennsylvania. It is a great place for outdoor fun and education.

    You can explore the beautiful woodlands around the reserve via the hiking tails. You can also visit the nature center, which features exhibits that highlight local wildlife, a room of beautiful mounted specimens, an indoor stream, a fish tank, and a “marsh machine” that uses a living plants to purify waste water.

    The reserve does permit hunting on a limited basis through a annual lottery for 100 permits. Due to some inclement weather and limited time, I confined myself to the visitor center on this trip.

    This is an interesting paludarium style fish tank. Forgive the glare from the very bright back light.
    Check out the fish in this tank.
    The really cool stream tank – I think my little buddy wants to be fed.
    .A description of the “marsh machine” that treats the center’s waste water.
    Here is a view of the marsh machine.
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