Drone over Pennypack

Former Stewardship Assistant Mike Coll sent this link to a video of a 9-minute drone flight over the Pennypack Preserve and Bryn Athyn Cathedral that he made last Thursday afternoon, September 17.

Enjoy!


https://youtu.be/ksSEqvYb6OA

Submitted by David Robertson
Executive Director

Invasive Aliens and Alien UFO

A splendid late summer view of the Pennypack Preserve meadows along the Meadow Crossing Trail

Former Pennypack Trust Stewardship Assistant Mike Coll moved on five years ago to become the land manager at a preserve owned by another land conservancy in our area.  I consider Mike a colleague, and I contacted him when Temple University (where I am an adjunct faculty member) needed an individual to teach a class on invasive organisms.  It was a match made in heaven (both for Mike and Temple), and Mike is now teaching the class for a second year.

Mike (second from right) holding forth on restoration strategies

On Thursday, September 17, Mike brought his students to Pennypack to examine invasive plants (no shortage of them here, unfortunately) and the Trust's restoration projects.  I spent the morning accompanying the class as we walked about three miles through the preserve.

Handling (carefully!) an American chestnut burr

One of our stops was a reforestation area planted in 1994 adjacent to Papermill Woods.  We incorporated a few pure American chestnut trees into the reforestation project, and now the trees are 30 feet tall and producing fruits (more appropriately called burrs).  The trees are all infected with the non-native chestnut blight fungus, but they are pumping out burrs like crazy nonetheless.  The burrs are really prickly and painful to hold; I don't know how squirrels manage to get them open.

Preparing for liftoff

After the walk, Mike brought out his drone to show the students how these devices can be useful for examining the landscape from the air.  He flew the drone about one mile away and returned it to the launch site, a tour that took 9 minutes.  The drone has the capacity to fly for about 18 minutes on one battery charge.

UFO spotted over the preserve

Mike remotely piloted the drone to fly over the meadows and woodlands of the preserve, and then to circle the Bryn Athyn Cathedral (the right tower in the image above, one mile distant).  All the while, the drone was sending back remarkably clear video that Mike recorded on his iPad.  He promised to share the video with me; if he does so, I will post it later.

Submitted by David Robertson
Executive Director

Late Summer Dusk

At dusk every evening in late summer, hundreds - maybe thousands - of American Robins fly over the Raytharn Farm fields.  Almost all are flying from north to south, though I don't think they are migrating.  I believe they are headed to a communal roost somewhere beyond the horizon.  This astonishing passage can continue for half an hour, with birds materializing out of thin air in the north and then fading into the ether to the south.

Sometimes the birds are clumped together.  Sometimes, they are flying solo.  Usually, though, they are flying in small groups.  All pass silently overhead, earnest to get to their destination before nightfall.  I can watch, mesmerized, for the entire spectacle.  My poor wife Mary, whose eyesight is nowhere as good as mine and who has lots of "floaters," only sees the occasional bird and doesn't understand my open-mouthed astonishment.  

Curiosity overpowering the instinct to flee

Last evening, I went out to see if any Common Nighthawks were migrating over Raytharn Farm.  Mary and I watched nine of them wheeling over the meadows on Sunday evening, August 23, but I haven't seen any since.  Because their migration is a harbinger of autumn, and nighthawks are fascinating birds in their own right, I'm always excited to see them, but was only fortunate once this summer.  Instead, last night I was treated to several does and their fawns browsing in the meadows and...

Heading back to the evening roost

...a small flock of tom turkeys sauntering through the grasses, reluctant to end their day.

Foxtail

This spring, our native grasslands were infested with Canada thistle, a Pennsylvania noxious weed that we are obligated by law to control (and which we want to manage in order to minimize competition with native grasses and desirable forbs).  We hired an herbicide professional to treat our fields, and his chemical magic did the trick - we had no thistle problem this year.  Instead, the fields are now a sea of non-native foxtail (Setaria spp.), an annual grass that is common in disturbed areas.  Once the native grasses regain the upper hand, foxtail will gradually disappear.

Foxtail seedhead

Dusk landscape with fields, forest, and distant towers in Bryn Athyn

The passing of summer does have its moments.

 

Submitted by

David Robertson, Executive Director