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| Copyright Catherine Young. Will "Gotta Run" Sanchez speaks to the group. |
Last Saturday, I along with naturalists Rich Kelly and John Young led a nature walk along the
Putnam Trail at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. We had a good turn out with over 25 people in attendance. The weather was great providing a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the foliage, birds, other wildlife and overall tranquility that the trail offers. Concurrently, we used the walk as a way to raise awareness of the natural beauty of the trail that is in danger of being lost if a plan to expand and pave the trail with asphalt, is ever put into place.
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| Copyright Catherine Young. Attendees gathering for the walk. |
We never seem to know what we have until it is gone and I fear this applies to the
Putnam Trail as well. The trail is a "jewel" of the
Bronx and of
Van Cortlandt Park; it has a wild sense to it and is a precious commodity fast disappearing in the push for more manicured parks in urban New York. While the trail was not overwhelming with birds during our walk, we did get excellent looks at Eastern Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Rusty Blackbirds, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Winter Wren, Northern Shovelers (on the lake) and
Vesper Sparrows on the Parade Grounds
(thanks to the sharp eyed John Young).
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| Copyright Catherine Young. A multi-use trail that looks beautiful in a natural landscape. |
Our tree list included Sassafras, Lizard's Tail, Pondlily sp., Witch-Hazel, Elm sp., White Mulberry, Black Walnut, Red Oak, Willow Oak - planted, Birch sp., Pokeweed, Low Smartweed, Japanese Knotweed, Basswood, Aspen sp., Willow sp., Round-leaf Wintergreen, Shadbush sp., Cherry sp., Multiflora Rose and many more.
(Thanks to Rich Kelly for his botanist expertise in keeping track of what we saw and pointing out many of the plants to the attendees).
Take a look at some of the photos from the walk to get an idea of how beautiful the trail is, especially at this time of the year. If you are interested learning more on the proposed plan to pave the Putnam Trail, visit the
"Save The Putnam Trail Website" for more information.
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| Copyright Catherine Young. Putnam Trail that runs through Van Cortlandt Park. |
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| Copyright Catherine Young. Putnam Trail that runs through Van Cortlandt Park. |
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| Copyright Catherine Young. Van Cortlandt Park Lake. |
Tags:
Putnam Trail,
Van Cortlandt Park,
Bronx
2 comments:
Excellent walk. Learn to shish-out a bird: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201954648444594&l=4473529639407712369
Thanks for posting some photos of the Putnam Trail. It is a jewel. I hope it will not be widened nor paved with cement.
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