Wingfield Pines

Wingfield Pines is a rather pretty park. It's also an acid mine abatement site with a series of ponds. The ponds are designed to allow water to flow just slowly enough that iron oxide will sink to the bottom and therefore stop flowing into the creek. It's an odd place to go exploring, but it has some nice rewards. I went there on Sunday to see what I could find.

The first thing you will notice is the birdsong. Wetlands of any kind are generally magnets for birds, because so many of them depend on insects, and insects love water. Right now is a perfect time for bird watching there, because the birds are making their presence known and the trees do not have many leaves. I attempted to take some bird pictures and discovered I'm rotten at it! I will have to learn more about how to do it properly. But I did like some of my pictures anyway, so I'll share the best ones. This is truly an outstanding place for birding!

The next thing you will notice right now are the numerous Bradford pear trees in bloom. This notorious tree is filling the air with its somewhat unpleasant scent, and treating the eye to its stunning flowers. This springtime display is a big reason many people have planted them. Wingfield Pines is unfortunately not a good place for people like me who love native wildflowers. It's pretty much overtaken with invasive plants, many of which do have attractive flowers. 

The ponds are apparently very attractive to waterfowl, despite their suspicious colors. I heard bullfrogs and green frogs along the edges of the ponds, spotted a turtle, and saw a patrolling dragonfly. 

Wingfield Pines is located at 1560 Mayview Rd. in Upper St. Clair. I thought I was in for a stress free ramble, because the paved upper parking lot only has 5 marked parking spots, and the gate to the lower parking area was closed as usual. So I expected there would be very few people in an 87 acre park. Instead there were many more visitors than the parking lot could hold. Apparently it's a popular option to park across the street at Boyce Mayview Park, where there are (closed) recreation facilities. Nevertheless everyone was more than willing to practice safe social distancing, and at no point did I find it was anything remotely close to crowded. 

Dogs have always been a bit of a problem there. Until recently, off-leashing dogs was apparently permitted. Now signs proclaim that dogs are no longer allowed, siting safety as the most important reason. Off-leashing is a bit of a pet peeve of mine because I know two children who were mauled in the face by off-leash dogs whose owners thought they were perfectly friendly. (News flash: everyone who off-leashes a dog thinks their dog is always friendly.) But of course all the new signs aren't stopping everyone from bringing dogs into the park. 

Bradford pear.

Persian speedwell.

Cardinal. 

Cardinal.

Spring azure butterfly.

Redbud tree.

Boxelder tree flowers.

Milkweed seed pods.

Lesser celandine.

Cattails. With so much leftover fluff, I'm sure many birds will enjoy using it as nesting material.

Red-winged blackbird.

Red-winged blackbird.

Red-winged blackbird.

Field mustard.

Boxelder tree flowers.

Common blue violets.

A pink flowering variety of boxelder tree.

Red-bellied woodpecker.

Red-bellied woodpecker.

Red-bellied woodpecker.

Boxelder tree flowers.

I believe this is a magnolia warbler. This is its song.

Blue jay.

Blue jay.

Blue jay.

Blue jay.

Red tailed hawks.

I spotted this turtle surrounded by Canada geese and a mallard duck, and I couldn't see it very well. I eventually decided it could not be a turtle because it was completely motionless, even when the birds were strutting around practically in its face. It must have been so into basking in the sunshine that it wasn't about to be chased off by some annoying birds. I believe it's a rather dirty eastern painted turtle.

Red-winged blackbird.

Red tailed hawk.

Cardinal.

Trout lilies. There were hundreds of them thickly carpeting the hillside next to the trail from the parking lot. They were all pointed downhill.   The hill was much too steep for me to try to photograph them from the front, but the steepness may be protecting them from deer.