Ellanor C. Lawrence Park falls within the Piedmont geologic province, which stretches southwest from New York City to Alabama. Upon arriving in this region nearly 300 years ago, European settlers cleared forests and converted the land to agricultural use. Over the last 100 years, much of the region was abandoned as farmland, largely due to the decrease in soil quality from intensive farming practices. Where development has not replaced farms, natural succession has led to reforestation.
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park is a prime example of this succession. Once a working farm, ECLP's 650-plus acres encompass several stages of forest succession that offer different habitats for wildlife. These include open meadows, an eastern red cedar thicket, mixed deciduous-conifer forest, maturing hardwood forest, several stream valleys, and a pond.
This diversity provides for the 133 species of birds that have been documented in the park. Here's a list of those birds and the times they may be seen in the park:
Bird Species of ECLP.
