Month: February 2019

Swimming through the muddy sticky liquid in the creek at Camp Dark Waters was a common occurrence every day. Since the camp is part of the Pine Barrens, there are numerous streams and small rivers that are winding through the woods to various destinations which include estuaries and ultimately ending in the ocean. The water supply for these streams come from an aquifer that is underground which lays close to the Pine Barren surface. These aquifer branches off into four major watersheds, the Mullica River is the largest because it contains the rivers and streams of represents the area’s waterways: “the Wading and its tributary the Oswego, the Batsto and the Mullica itself” (Patch.com). Each stream is unique and has special characteristics to set them apart, for instance, the landscape in which it flows can be flat coastal plains.

Besides these streams and rivers, the water is known for the dark brown water, hence the name Camp Dark Waters. The water is often described as tea-stained and looks like a bronzer color when your skin is emerged in the creek. The creek that twists down the edge of the camp is called the Southwest branch of the Rancocas Creek or as known as the Haines Creek and the part just above the dam downstream from camp is often called Lake Catoxen. It starts in the Pine Barrens and eventually empties into the Delaware River. The name Catoxen seems to come from a band of Native Americans that lived nearby on the land. The cedar color water comes from brew organic compounds, which is called humates and is the result of decomposing plant matter. In the Pine Barrens where this naturally occurring plant compound is called tannins, while the Atlantic White Cedar also contributes to the dark waters. Normally, these natural compounds would be broken down by organisms, but there is comparatively little life in these streams because of another major element: high levels of acidity. The level of ph is ranging from a 5.5 to 3.6 on the ph scale. Most of the species are unable to exist in these waters because the level of the ph is too high, so the organisms can’t tolerate the acidity scale. There are only a few amphibians that can live in these rivers and streams such as the rare species of the endemic Pine Barrens tree frog. These tree frogs are registered on New Jersey’s endangered and threatened species Field Guide.

A longtime family friend John Braxton and his colleague Wayne R. Ferren Jr. wrote a published article in the Philadelphia Botanical Club called The Vascular Plants of Camper Dark Waters, Medford, New Jersey, 1912 to 2015 about the discovery and history of plant species in the past and present on the land that is Camp Dark Waters. Many years before the camp was established on the land, the property was owned by Witmer Stone in which he had high standards at the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia starting from 1893 to 1938. Himself and four of his colleagues, used these lands to based their operation to study Southern New Jersey botany and ornithology. Camp Dark Water was a site for the first book that Stone would publish about the numbers of plants species that grow on this land. As a result, they built a cabin to do their research in, which was called “Catocksin Camp”. The current cabin that we call Arapahoe at Camp Dark Waters was used by Stone in the 1900s to collect and study plant species of the Pine Barrens and Southern New Jersey.

Stone was precise when listing species of plants and he would record the localities where he found the plants but also grouped the localities into four categories called “Middle District”, “Pine Barren”, “Coastal Strip”, and “Cape May.” According to Braxton and Ferren, “Medford was in Stone’s ‘Middle District’, and he documented approximately 327 species of vascular plants that had been found in Medford, New Jersey by various collectors at some time up to 1911. Of these 327 species, Stone himself collected specimens representing approximately 261 species in Medford” (78). Stone made a good dent in discovering and collecting lots of species that are documented in the herbarium history of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Next time, I will get into the specific species of plants and herbarium specimens that Witmer Stone ultimately finds.   

Price Park is located very near Guilford College, off of New Garden Road, Hobbs Road, and Jefferson Road. Its official address is 1420 Price Park Drive. The first time I went to Price Park was in the fall of 2016, when I was a first year at Guilford. I knew essentially nothing about the park at the time, and I honestly don’t remember what drew me there to begin with. I stayed for maybe thirty minutes as I walked up and down what I thought was the only path there, and I left disappointed in how small I thought the space was.

I was never inclined to return to the park until this past summer (2018), when the Kathleen Clay Edwards Library was the only branch in Greensboro that held The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest. The library (pictured in the bottom right hand corner of the map), lies further back on the park’s space, which I had initially accessed coming from New Garden, and after I got the book and headed back towards my car, I realized there are actually many paths near the library that are a part of Price Park (my first time there I thought the park ended where the library began, when in fact they are entwined). So, book in hand, I headed down a trail surrounded by forestry and found a bench to sit and read, as at the time I was more interested in beginning my book than exploring the park. When I left for the second time ever, though, I made a mental note to return and further explore what the space had to offer.

Alas, I didn’t return to Price Park (except once to go on a short walk) until the beginning of this semester, when I learned about this blogging assignment. I suppose I got too caught up with school and work that I completely forgot about my desire to get back to exploring Price Park. When I did return, though, I was with a friend who was as eager to explore as I was. With this newfound knowledge of what lay beyond the gazebo and butterfly garden (closest to New Garden and running along a creek, somewhat behind Jefferson Elementary), I set out on the trails. It was getting dark, so once more I was left wanting more to explore, but this time I at least walked for about and hour and was able to use a flashlight to read about the wildlife, plant life, and history within the park (more about that in a later post). However, once there was little to no light left I settled down on a bench and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather.

Finally, I will get to the most recent and best experience I have had at Price Park. After multiple times returning with the same friend, I got increasingly more familiar with the space. So, when I had a friend come to visit, I took him to the park in my new favorite way of getting there. Rather than driving down New Garden Road, as I thought was the most accessible entrance point from where I live, I found that if I walk through the Guilford Woods (entering on the gated path, and taking a left, then a right) the trail spits straight into a neighborhood’s road, which leads straight to the depths of the woods at Price Park. From there, you can go straight on a trail, and choose a number of different paths which will all leave you walking for a good bit, until you decide to return to the heart of the park, which I consider to be the gazebo. On this particular walk I saw three female deer, an owl (near its owl box), and hoped to see bats, as there are three bat boxes in a field, but they were all empty. All in all, I feel as though every time I return to Price Park I explore something new, or discover another thing about what it has to offer, and that is a lot of what draws me to it every time. Respectfully, each experience I have had there has been better than the last, though most all of them have been good.

I imagine that my map will grow as my experiences at Price Park develop, and I continue to discover more parts of the space.

Hello and welcome back to my blog! As mentioned in my previous blog post and as told in the title, this is a part two of my first impressions when I visited Haw River State Park for the first time. I gave background as to why and what and how in the first blog post (and you should read that one first), so we are just gonna dive right into more of my first impressions of my visit.

Although I did not see very much wildlife for the short time I was at Haw River, I did see a lot of trees. I mean a lot. There were tall trees, short trees, thick trees, thin trees. Some bare trees, some leafy trees. Fallen trees, upright trees.  For the moment you have all been waiting for, I will attempt to describe these trees to you. By the end of this project, I will know their official names and other specifics, but for now, enjoy these descriptions.

Tree 1 (Webby Tree): These kinds of trees were very abundant across the park. They had lots and lots of branches that looked like a spider web and they were very tall. Additionally, some of these trees had those spikey ball things that I would hate to step on barefooted. You know which ones I am talking about, right?

Tree 2 (Green-leafed Tree): Not a very descriptive name, but these trees are difficult to describe. They had green leaves, but not “typical” leaves; the leaves were more hair-like. These trees were mixed in with the Webby Trees.

Tree 3 (Big Lake Trees): These trees were on the side of the lake where the sun rises. There was a huge abundance of them crowded together and they had lots of green leaves, from what I could tell. I assume they were evergreens, but I only know so much about trees.

Tree 4 (White Petal Tree): These trees were some of the tallest trees I had seen at the park. Towards the top of the tree, at the end of the branches, there were “white, petal like looking things on it.” (That came straight from my observation notes.)

Tree 5 (Red Petal Tree): Similar to the White Petal Tree, this tree was tall and located amongnst a mix of other unique trees. However, instead of white petals at the end of the branches, red buds grow out of the branches at the top.

Extra Tree Comments: Not about naming or describing a tree, but I noticed two trees that looked black almost. I will have to investigate this more upon my next visit as to why they look like that. As mentioned, I am no conifer connoisseur, however I have never seen or heard of black trees.

Note: I apologize for the lack of pictures in this particular blog post. I was trying to focus on the actual aspects of nature, not taking pictures of it. And frankly, my camera was not working very well, making it time-consuming and inefficient to take photos. I hope this one photo I got and my vivid descriptions will suffice until next time.

Another big aspect of my visit was water. There was a big body of water, what I would assume to be a lake. The water was stagnant and murky–definitely not someplace I would want to swim at. Upon further inspection, the water was in fact moving, ever-so-slightly. There were little ripples and movements within the water. In the lake, two trees had fallen parallel to each other. At first, it looked like a reflection of the trees in the water, but in fact, the trees had fallen oh-so-perfectly in the water.

Back to the earth, to the terrain. There were lots of different levels of terrain: high, low, and even lower. While exploring this “even lower” terrain, I stumbled upon another body of water. This time it was a little creek, if you could call it that. In reality, it looked like it had either lost a lot of water or it was formed by excess rainwater. The water moved a little bit faster than the water of the lake, but it still seemed pretty stagnant. The aquatic life and terrestrial life come together as I witness a fallen tree laid out over the creek. Additionally, I can see the roots exposed from another tree nearby the creek.

To end my exploration, I sit on the edge of the lake, across from the sun. I can feel the heat of the sun, like an extra layer of warmth to comfort me on this chilly February day.

My next mission will be to learn more about the history of Haw River and the scientific names of those trees I described earlier.

The Backwoods of Greensboro

I was driving with my mother along the winding roads of the Guilford Courthouse Battleground , covered by a canopy of wet, bare trees. The mechanical, gentle   scraping of the windshield wipers distracted me from the dampened woods outside. I stopped the car every so often to get out and take a few pictures, but my mind seemed to match the mechanical flash of my camera’s shutter, quickly moving from one thing to the next.

I saw a picturesque creek flowing away from the road and into the fog. I pulled over and slowly traversed down the damp, leaf-laden hill to take some photos. When I got to the bottom, I saw a different perspective of the creek, a drainage pipe and a milky-gray pool of water, a far less picturesque visage than from the road. Likely runoff from the road or surrounding neighborhood, the milky pool represents a Wizard of OZ looking behind the curtain moment.

As I trudged up the moistened hill, I noticed that we were on the edge of the park. Behind me was a residential neighborhood, while in front of me was woods for as far as I could see, a tainted enclave of natural space in the middle of Greensboro. I find myself more and more frustrated while attempting to immerse myself in natural spaces, finding human intrusions into the natural landscape to be irritating, a cynical sentiment that I hope to overcome.

Deer on the Fringes

Sometimes, it astounds me how much a little and seemingly insignificant moment can change my perspective. I can recall countless times when seeing a blue heron in the pond, a hummingbird at the feeder or a peregrine falcon perched upon telephone lines lifted my outlook on what otherwise was a horrible day. I had such an experience while driving through the battlegrounds parkland; as I was slowly driving, I glimpsed a herd of deer out of the corner of my eye.

If it wasn’t for the unmistakable flash of white, the herd would have folded unnoticed into the rest of their brown and wet surroundings. I shouted with frightened excitability “DEER!” and slammed my foot on the brakes, nearly giving my mother, entrenched in her smartphone, a heart attack. I lifted the emergency break, grabbed my camera, and with a suppressed excitement I exited my car, inching across the asphalt as the deer lifted their heads from the underbrush. I giddily took a few photos while I still had the deers’ attention.

Seeing the deer enlivened me with an excitement that I hadn’t felt in quite some time. It made me think removed from myself about the people who lived on that land during the 18th century, about the lives that they lived, about how their relationship to deer, in that situation was different than mine. I was a photo-happy observer; the people living there were predators, and the deer were food.

Greensboro’s weather is likely one of the most indecisive forces I have encountered. My free time during the beautiful weather last week was wrapped up in labs and meetings, so I did not get a chance to go on my weekly walk. We then entered a prolonged period of dropping temperatures and constant, cold rain (despite the groundhog predictions for an early spring) Luckily, I was able to find a short period of time without the rain to step out and take a closer look at what I’d begun exploring last time.

This was a short adventure, but I had a chance to see three different kinds of trees all within a few yards of each other. Just a brief disclaimer: I am nowhere near an expert of identifying natural features by name, but I decided to do some research, step out of my comfort zone, and make some educated guesses (confirmed in part by an Eagle scout).

When you first enter the woods, immediately behind the lake there are several diverse species. In the winter,  all the brown leaves on the ground provide the same crunch and the trees seem to blend together without their colorful foliage. This meant that I had to look around me for clues and at the trees themselves more closely.

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The first thing I took pictures of to research later were the barks. I looked at two different trees that I didn’t identify right away, and documented pictures of their bark to study later. After further questioning and looking around, I learned that they were Loblolly (or potentially longleaf?) pines and oak trees.

Since there weren’t leaves on the trees for me to look at, I took a photo of the forest floor, although the moss takes up the majority of the photograph. Within the jumble of fallen, dried up leaves you can spot the distinctive lobed oak leaves as well as the more entire, slightly toothed beech leaves, and even pine needles scattered around. I normally tend to, quite literally, overlook the leaves and vegetation scattered around in the woods, which leads to me missing out on some important features that could allow me to learn more about the woods as a whole.

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The last kind of tree I had spotted was an American Beech. While I saw its characteristic leaves on the ground, it took me a second to look around and find one of their sources. All three of the tree species I spotted today have the capacity to grow to great heights, which explains the towering nature of this area of the woods. As I walked around with my hands in my pockets thanks to the near freezing temperature, I figured that most of the animals had likely scurried away to the warmth of their homes. I decided to start walking back inside to preserve my own warmth. While it was nice to step outside into a peaceful environment and spend some time alone, I’m looking forward to warmer days!

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Carly and I am just your average joe who happens to be researching the Haw River State Park for a project. I would like to preface this by saying I am no nature expert or wildlife fanatic. But by the end of this project, I would like to be the biggest fan of the Haw River State Park you have ever met. My first blog post (this one!) is going to be my first impressions of visiting the park. Well, technically I visited the park for a field trip about 5 years ago, but we’ll disregard that. The only thing I really know about this park is that it is located about 5 minutes from my house in Browns Summit, NC. I would also like to assume the park is centered on the Haw River, but that’s just a lucky guess.

Just a warning, these first blog posts are not going to be very formal and my descriptions of what I see are not going to be very scientific. This is all about my first thoughts as an amateur adventurer of the Haw River. Although not my brightest idea, I decided to go on a chilly February morning (around 30℉) that also happened to be Valentine’s Day. Additionally, I made the executive decision to not do any prior research and to not use any map upon entering the park. I would go in blind, not knowing what to expect, and just see what path I would go on.

Arriving

The first things I noticed upon my arrival were the sounds, or lack of sounds, at the park. It was very serene and quiet, except for the occasional bird chirping. I heard a chorus of bird sounds, harmonizing with each other. Some of the bird noises sounded like an owl’s “hoo,” while others were higher pitched, more like a “tweet tweet.” The different bird calls come together as though they are having a conversation, and I wonder what they could be talking about. Maybe they’re talking about the weather or what they dreamed about last night.  

Compared to the hustle and bustle of my daily life, time felt as if it moved just a little bit slower at Haw River. I’m able to lose thoughts about everything else going on and focus on my surroundings, focus on my breathing.

As I walk from my car, I hear the sound of my shoes crunching the leaves that lay on the ground. The ground underneath my feet changes as I trek back. From leaves covering the dirt to the pavement of the walkways to the wet, red, muddy clay, they all are composed of different materials but all at one point share a similar purpose: providing me a path to get from one spot to another.

Enjoy this map of the park (hopefully it’s there) to suffice for my lack of photos:)

I know there was not a lot I actually talked about, but this was supposed to be a general introduction with some general reflections from my first visit to Haw River. Don’t worry though, because my next blog post will be part two of my first impressions. In that, I will give my world-renowned descriptions of the various trees I witnessed and provide more detailed information on the other aspects of my visit. Toodles!

As someone who spent her entire life growing up in a large, bustling southern city, I had a hard time deciding what natural area I would be focusing my attention on for the coming weeks. There are so many to choose from, and so many with such rich histories! How could I possibly form an attachment to just one when they are all so new and exciting to my nature-deprived spirit?

However, after some half-hearted deliberation, I decided to explore the Uwharrie region of North Carolina, the first place that sparked my interest when contemplating this project. I remembered some story that my father told me long ago while passing through about these mountains being the one of the oldest and perhaps least well-known mountains in North Carolina. To the nature fanatic, these stout mountains don’t seem to offer much by way of exploration, challenge, or grandeur as perhaps some of the other mountains in the area might. However, these mountains, now shriveled by time and erosion, have piqued my curiosity like no other. Of course, there are some places which have much more well recorded histories, more interesting stories, and even spookier supernatural tales, but I think that with the Uwharrie, it is the mystery of the unknown that intrigues me the most. I welcome the opportunity to get to know this area deeply for both what it once was, and what it now is.

I suppose this first entry will simply be an introduction to my interests, and also some things that you may expect to see in my later, upcoming posts.

Firstly, I am really excited to be researching further into the history of the Uwharrie Mountain Range. Of course, there is a short, governmentally documented history of the State Park, which I will talk about at a later date, but I am much more intrigued by the history of this area prior to the incorporation into the State Park system. I am also curious to see what kind of digging I can do into the Indigenous history of the area. There is evidence that I have found indicating that the roots of Indigenous folks run quite deep in this area, but have yet to find any history on the possible communities themselves. I suppose my main historical inquiries will be into the non-institutional history of the area; what it was before colonists were there, what it was like before even people were there, the artifacts found there, and then later on the more recent human history of the area.

I am also hoping to delve into the mystery of the area even more by uncovering possible supernatural tales rooted in the area. It seems to be a common theme that humans, and particularly Americans in this case, impose a kind of mystic, spiritual quality upon natural areas, and I am wondering how much this area has been affected by these tendencies, both long ago, and more recently. I’m not quite sure how this will pan out, but I intend to inquire into this issue at least once over the course of the next couple months. I am anticipating that this will also include the religious energy of the area as a part of my discussion.

And of course, I am excited to make plans to visit these mountains myself throughout the duration of this project. I have camped there a couple times before, and am truly excited to be going back to the area, especially with a particular intent of connecting with and understanding this area much more deeply than I have thus far.

Later posts are guaranteed to include pictures, maps, artifacts, quotes, old magazine articles, and other fun tidbits for your enjoyment and engagement. Can’t wait to embark on this inquisitive journey with you, reader!

Pre-Colombian History in the Upper-Piedmont

During the end of the last Ice-Age (10,000-8,000 B.C) the glacial wall receded, warming the climate, which allowed lush forests to replace ice and snow. Nomadic peoples, known broadly as Paleo-Indians, who once roamed the sparse glacial landscapes moved less frequently in seasonal camps (8,000-1,000 B.C. ). As time progressed (1,000 B.C.-A.D. 1550), their cultures morphed and the native peoples settled permanently, establishing agrarian societies. Multiple tribes settled in what is now North Carolina’s Upper-Piedmont, including the Catawba, the Cheraw, and the Keyauwee. Tribes in the piedmont culled forests, actively managing the landscape, and inhabiting a natural world far different from the one Europeans first encountered.

https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/american-indian/handouts/nc-prehistory

European Involvement in the Upper Piedmont

After the arrival of Europeans in North Carolina (around 1520), countless natives died as the result of the introduction of foreign illnesses, much like the rest of the continent, desomating entire communities, and in some cases entire cultures. As a result, the landscape regressed as forest grew back untamed.  As European, particularly English, settlement increased (1680-1750), settlers inched westward, sparking countless conflicts with native tribes, these skirmishes are known broadly as the North Carolina Indian Wars (1663-1763). Amid the conflict, around 1750, Scotch-Irish, Germans, English and Welsh settled in the Upper Piedmont, known then as the Backcountry. The rampant, dense forests quickly became a patchwork of settlements and farmland.

The Regulator Movement

In 1764, outcry poured against unfair taxation and governmental corruption toward the royal governor of North Carolina, William Tryon. A majority of the dissidents hailed from the upper-piedmont and came to be known as Regulators; the Regulator Movement irreparably shaped the political landscape of colonial North Carolina. Ravenous mobs attacked despised colonial officials, and Regulator militias organized. In May of 1771, tensions culminated during a parlay West of Hillsborough into a two-hour skirmish known as the Battle of Alamance. The skirmish resulted in a defeat for the Regulators, twelve of the leaders were tried for treason and swiftly executed, while many more were pardoned by King George III.

https://www.ncpedia.org/history/colonial/regulator-movement

The Founding of Guilford County

During the chaos of the Regulator Movement, Guilford County was founded. In 1771, named after Francis North, the first Earl of Guilford, the North Carolina Colonial Legislature created Guilford County to assert tighter governmental control over the Upper-Piedmont. In 1774, the colonial government built the county’s first courthouse and jail, centralizing power within the county; however, as more colonists migrated to the Upper-Piedmont a new rebellion brewed, not just concerning corruption in North Carolina but surrounding representation and ultimately an independence from the British crown itself.

https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/guilford-county-1771/

Leaving the confines of the small, mildly suffocating Frasier building— which has come to be an Early College “safe haven” on campus— to get fresh air seemed like the perfect way to end a Friday afternoon. I convinced two of my best friends to go out with me on a walk despite the slight chill in the air for two reasons: (1) Chick-fil-A didn’t seem like the most attractive destination on a sunny day and (2) I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going or where I’d end up.

It’s crazy how you can spend so much time on a campus and still not be familiar with the natural features it possesses. I have fond memories of nights spent at bonfires by the lake and games of sand volleyball, but I never truly explored the environment surrounding these places that allowed for those memories to be created. Walking past the lake and stepping into the woods, I felt almost daunted. There was a strong sense of familiarity that captured me yet I didn’t feel truly immersed into the setting either. Is it even possible to be so simultaneously serene yet overwhelmed?

I was consumed by the presence of the natural juxtaposition of shadows and light, with the longleaf pines and oak trees casting patterns throughout the space. Even in the middle of winter, hints of green were to be found in the moss covering the tree trunks as well as in the evergreen leaves up above. As we walked along, avoiding the tree roots and lamenting our poor choices in footwear, I thought back to my previous experiences in the woods. Back in Michigan, we used to go to a park in Sterling Heights. In the park, I would run around, ride my bike, and most memorably create giant piles of leaves with my friends for us to jump in. We would run off and say to our parents, “We’ll come back to the tree!” Of course, there were several trees, but this one in particular was a beautiful red oak that assumed the most vibrant colors in the fall; this tree became our spot.

Flash forward to the present day, I managed to pinpoint why I didn’t feel the same degree of comfort in these woods: I had yet to find my spot. It’s going to take a lot more than a short stroll to discover my “place” in this location, but I did get a chance to explore with nothing but the sound of leaves crunching and the gentle breeze. Today was simply a chance to walk over to the lake and enter the woods briefly, but I’m excited to go back and keep walking down the trail I saw.

Before this day I wasn’t sure if the Guilford Woods were where I’d want to spend a decent amount of my time this semester. However, what I saw today has given me more questions to ask and more areas to explore. The rich history, both human and natural, that resides in these woods has caught my attention and hopefully becomes something that we all understand a little more over the course of this project.

As I turned the rumbling engine of my car off and got out, I could hear….almost nothing. Sure, there were the usual subtle sounds of nature: the wind, the shifting of the grass, the quiet babble of the water. Man-made noise, however, was at a minimum. As I walked down to the lake, shoes sinking in to the light mud from last night’s rain, this feeling of relative silence remained with me. I was able to hear every footstep, breath, and noise that I made, all to the tune of the quiet grass and slow-moving water.

Rest and Relaxation

It’s been a while since I last went to the lake, and the feelings of nostalgia came to me almost immediately: Memories of bonfires, nature hikes, and laughter all resurfacing in my mind. The sand is new, added to the man-made area in messy, beautiful fashion. As I sit down on the bench, my feet grinding against the hard sand, I take a look out into the vast expanses of the lake. The water is quiet, and I remember why I had come to love this place. Looking out into the water provides me with a sense of calm, as I watch the surface slowly and steadily shift. Sitting on the bench and watching consumes my focus, and I stay there for a time, watching and relaxing. Although we all know of the stigma around watching a calm canvas, with jokes about “watching paint dry” being cracked with ease, there’s something oddly calming about watching the minuscule motions of the lake and it’s surroundings. I’m the only person around when I go, and it feels like it’s just the lake and me, acquainting with each other as we sit still together.

A New Friend

As I sit on the bench, contemplating what direction I want to take this journal entry, I hear the familiar sound of scurrying in the grass. Looking to my left, I quickly spot the two Muscovy ducks that I’ve come to associate with the lake. Friendly creatures, they wonder aimlessly among the newly seeded grass, picking and choosing the tastiest morsels for their pleasing. These birds might be the most iconic part about the lake, in my eyes. Whenever I visit I spot them, be it as they lounge, swim, or eat. They’re remarkably friendly, as seen by the closeness of my picture, and human interaction doesn’t seem to aggravate or scare them at all. In past visits I’ve watched them eat, even once giving them a portion of bread from my sandwich. Although the internet tells me that they often rest in trees, I’ve never seen the two particular birds that reside at the Guilford Lake anywhere other than the ground and the water. Not particularly majestic, they waddle around, living their life dependent on the lake and it’s surroundings. In future blog posts I’ll try to get more pictures of the pair, or even a video, as they are one of the most interesting parts of the lake for me.

That’s all for now. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read about my experiences with the lake. It’s truly a majestic, calming space, and if you’ve never spent time there, it’s a great experience, be it alone or with friends.