Wildlife in the Parks

SPRING WILDFLOWERS

After a long winter, spring taunts you to break out your hiking boots and explore the forest floor as plants peak out of the warming soil.

Check out these plants and many others here in your Seneca Parks!

ODNR has a great website you can view a current list of spring wildflowers to expect to see locally and in other parts of the state throughout the spring. This site also provides a Spring Wildflower Field Guide and a Wildflower Checklist, that lists the wildflowers by color!

YellowTroutLily

YELLOW TROUT LILY
Erythronium americanum
Description: Perennial from bulb, often colonial from shoots. Essentially stemless, a pair of brown-spotted green leaves arising from bulb, lemon-yellow flowers with six strongly recurved tepals, fruit thick capsule.
Distribution: Statewide
Blooms: March - April

YellowTroutLily

SPRING-BEAUTY
Claytonia virginica
Description: Small, delicate perennial from deeply buried tuber from which two or more stems arise. Leaves two, opposite, straplike and somewhat succulent. Flowers whitish to more commonly tinged heavily with pink due to prominent colored nectar guides on petals.
Distribution: Statewide
Blooms: March - May

HARBINGER-OF-SPRING
Erigenia bulbosa
Description: Elfin perennial, often only an inch or two in height. One or two highly dissected parsley-like leaves arise from the upper stem. Tiny white flowers with contrasting purplish anthers born in small umbels.
Distribution: Statewide
Blooms: February - April

YellowTroutLily

TOAD-SHADE
Trillium sessile
Description: Perennial, low-statured trillium, often only 6-8 inches high.Whorl of three leaves at summit, these sessile. Maroon (rarely pale yellow) flowers with petals stiffly erect.
Distribution: Statewide
Blooms: April - May

YellowTroutLily

BLOODROOT
Sanguinaria canadensis
Description: Large showy flower with numerous white petals; ephemeral, petals often falling within a day. Single leaf enwraps stem at flowering time, eventually expands into a large rounded leaf with lobed margins and deep basal sinus.
Distribution: Statewide
Blooms: March - April

YellowTroutLily

DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES
Dicentra cucullaria
Description: Delicate low perennial with highly dissected leaves arising from clusters of tubers coalesced into a bulb. Distinctive white flowers dangle from pendant pedicels in elongate racemes.
Distribution: Statewide
Blooms: March - May

Ever wondered what birds can be found right here in Seneca County?

Check out this SPECIES LIST of birds observed in our local parks!

Learn even more details about Ohio birds at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Species Guide Index

TREES

Trees are an essential part of many of our local ecosystems. Check out our current TREE SPECIES observed in the parks.

Want to learn more? Use this link to view the Ohio Department of Natural Resources - Trees of Ohio Field Guide.

(Photo by: Shelby Monroe, 2019 Photo Contest)

OTHER RESOURCES

NATURE ARTICLES FROM OTHER SOURCES:

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) - Search the site for a variety of great resources: www.neefusa.org

FIVE STUDIES THAT SHOW HOW SPENDING TIME IN NATURE HELPS VETERANS - Nov. 1, 2022 by Sarah Hubbart

WILDLIFE ARTICLES FROM PARK STAFF

Below are articles written by Park Staff that have been published in the Advertiser Tribune, Tiffin, Ohio and Review Times, Fostoria, Ohio newspapers.

March 2022: Our Local Vocal Amphibians, by Sarah Betts, Executive Director, Seneca Parks

April 2022: Spring is in the Air, by Sarah Betts, Executive Director, Seneca Parks

May 2022: Bloomin' Tunes, by Sarah Betts, Executive Director, Seneca Parks

June 2022: Bird ID, by Sarah Betts, Executive Director, Seneca Parks

July 2022: Summer Sun Enjoyed by Many, by Sarah Betts, Executive Director, Seneca Parks

August 2022: Hunting Experiences, by Sarah Betts, Executive Director, Seneca Parks

September 2022: Before Holiday Seasons, by Sarah Betts, Executive Director, Seneca Parks

October 2022: Giving a Tree a Checkup, by Sarah Betts, Executive Director, Seneca Parks

Economic Valuation of Natural Areas in Ohio report provided by Ohio State University College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

RIVER WATER LEVELS

The Sandusky Scenic River is considered a very "flashy" waterway. This means the water level can change drastically in a short amount of time, depending on rain events in different parts of the watershed.

The National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service is an online resource which provides river data collected at the many stations across the United States, including the local station positioned in Tiffin, OH.

View current readings and predictions at TIFFIN, OH STATION or explore all stations and other resources at https://water.weather.gov.

Park Office
3362 S. TR 151
Tiffin, Ohio 44883
Hours:
Mon & Tue: 8:30AM - 4:00 PM
Wed - Fri: by appointment

Phone: (419) 447-8091