{"id":1384,"date":"2012-02-08T16:54:39","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T21:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/?p=1384"},"modified":"2012-02-08T16:54:39","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T21:54:39","slug":"january-photojournal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/2012\/02\/08\/january-photojournal\/","title":{"rendered":"January Photojournal"},"content":{"rendered":"

There were some exciting wildlife sightings in Glen Providence Park<\/strong> this January, with this lovely Red Fox<\/strong>, and a Great Horned Owl being pestered by American Crows!<\/strong>\u00a0 In both instances, by keeping my distance, I was able to observe them for several minutes.<\/p>\n

There were some bitterly cold days, but the wildlife is amazingly well adapted: on a hike in 14 degree weather<\/strong>, the birds were active and downright noisy around the pond!\u00a0 It was also mighty\u00a0cold the day of our Winter Tree Walk<\/a><\/strong>– but we had an amazing time nonetheless!\u00a0 Our fingers were too cold to capture the Great Blue Heron<\/strong> perched nearby.\u00a0 But on that hike we discovered that the\u00a0Skunk Cabbage<\/strong>\u00a0in the wetlands along Broomall’s Run<\/strong> was up remarkably early, which shows how mild this winter has been overall.<\/p>\n

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Great Horned Owl & American Crow<\/p><\/div>\n

It is appropriate that many of our sightings were birds: as we started our Birding Big Year<\/a><\/strong> on January 1! We are up to 74 total bird species documented<\/a><\/strong> in Glen Providence Park (35 this year)<\/strong>, and counting… \u00a0The Red-bellied Woodpecker<\/strong> may be the bird species I most consistently see (and hear) in the park. To learn its calls, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After our only real snowfall so far this winter, I spotted the Great Horned Owl<\/strong>.\u00a0 It is understandable (and brave!) that crows pester the owl, as Great Horned Owls are known to prey on crows, and in fact we have found the feathers of an unfortunate crow along a trail in the park.\u00a0 It is common to see crows “mobbing” hawks in the park.<\/p>\n

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Sledding on wet snow<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s a good thing that people enjoyed the snow on the\u00a0sledding hill<\/strong>\u00a0while they could, because it didn’t last long! By the end of the month, the weather was so warm that Spring seemed imminent.\u00a0 And alas, we found our\u00a0first tick of the season<\/strong>\u00a0(in January!<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Here’s hoping for more snow this winter… we have sledding and cross-country skiing in the park to do!<\/p>\n

Click on any photo for a closer look, or scroll through the photos below.\u00a0 You can view more photos in our Facebook Albums: including Wildlife<\/a>, Scenery<\/a>, and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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