Awash in Blue

Trail bridge and bluebells

On Sunday afternoon, Kali suggested that we walk the Schuylkill River Trail in Valley Forge National Historical Park.  The trail parallels the Schuylkill River for three miles, with plenty of river and riparian woodland views.  The absolute best time of year to walk the trail is mid-spring when the Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are in bloom, as they were last weekend.  The floodplain is covered in a carpet of blue in all directions. 

Virginia Bluebell

Spring-beauty

Other wildflowers were still blooming; Spring-beauties (Claytonia virginica) were nearly as abundant as the bluebells, but much smaller and more demure, casting a pink haze over parts of the floodplain.

De-silting basin wall

The headwaters of the Schuylkill River drain the anthracite coal region of eastern Pennsylvania.  When coal mining was at its peak, the river ran black with suspended coal sediment.  At the same time, long stretches of the river were used to transport coal.  The river was dammed in many places to create deep, slack water and mules pulled canal boats along the banks of the river between the dams.  Locks allowed the barges to get around the dams.  Because the river was so fouled with coal sediment it had to be de-silted frequently to maintain navigation depths, so the navigation company built de-silting basins along the shore where the black muck could be dredged from the river and allowed to dewater.  One of the de-silting basins - built, but never used - is located in the park along the trail.  This de-silting basin traps water between the uphill side of the basin and the constructed basin wall leading to the development of valuable forested wetland habitat inside the basin.  Even de-silting basins along the river that were used for sediment removal have subsided over time and offer wetland habitat. 

Bluebells amid Ostrich Ferns (Metteuccia  struthiopteris)

At the far (upstream) end of the trail, the pathway is bordered by huge colonies of pawpaw shrubs (Asimina triloba).  I've never seen a fruit on the bushes; I suspect squirrels or raccoons harvest the mushy, banana-flavored fruit when it's ripe in the autumn.

Pawpaw flowers

A young family cruising the Schuylkill River

Who needs a yellow brick road?

Blue Heaven

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

Back to the River Trail at Valley Forge National Historical Park last Sunday for a six-mile walk. We hardly saw any wildlife; even the Buffleheads [Bucephala albeola] that reliably overwinter on the Schuylkill River have flown north to begin nesting in the Canadian Arctic.

The River Trail was spectacular, though, because it was bordered by Virginia bluebells nearly its entire length. The floodplain was literally blanketed in blue.

This gnarled Box-elder (Acer negundo) had resprouted after the main leader had died, leaving a scenic wooden arch spanning a lazy spring seep on the floodplain.

Some Jack-in-the-Pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum) were in full bloom...

...while others were just unfurling.

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I've still got a Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) coming to my feeder. And, though they've donned full breeding plumage, I've still got White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) foraging under my feeder; the Juncos (Junco hyemalis) have all departed, but the White-throats tend to hang around a little longer.