Friends of Pleasant Township Park

Support Our Community on May 5th

Pleasant Township Park is a wonderful and well-used 60+ acres of green space—a place where our community gathers, plays, and enjoys the outdoors. The park neighbor is the Pleasant Township Fire Department that works diligently to keep our community safe.

A YES vote on May 5th will ensure the fire department remains fully staffed and properly equipped, ready to respond when it matters most.

Your vote helps protect not only our park, but the people who make Pleasant Township such a great place to live.

Vote YES on May 5th—and continue investing in the strength and safety of our community.

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Holy rookery… that’s a LOT of herons! 😮🪶

A huge thank you to Jennifer Conroy for capturing this incredible scene right here in Marion County what an amazing look into the lives of the Great Blue Heron!

What you’re seeing is called a rookery, a large nesting colony where herons gather high up in trees to raise their young. While Great Blue Herons are usually solitary hunters, they come together during nesting season for a big reason safety and survival. By nesting in groups, they have more eyes watching for predators like raccoons or eagles, giving their chicks a better chance of making it to adulthood. These rookeries are almost always located near wetlands, rivers, or ponds, so adults can easily fly out to catch fish and bring food back to their hungry young.

Each nest is a platform of sticks built high in the treetops, and many are reused and added onto year after year some becoming impressively large over time. A single rookery can hold dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of nests all clustered together. Both parents share the work of incubating eggs and feeding the chicks, making these treetop neighborhoods full of constant activity during the breeding season.

Seeing a rookery like this is a powerful reminder of how important healthy wetlands and protected spaces are for wildlife here in Marion County. Keep your eyes to the treetops you never know when you might spot one of these bustling heron communities!

2026 Marion SWCD Nature Day Camps

June 16th: Girl Scout Camp Crooked Lane, 6998 County Rd 40, Mount Gilead

June 23rd: Pleasant Township Park, 1144 Owens Rd W, Marion

Camps are on a first come first serve basis to the first 30 preregistered, prepaid campers.

Camps are open to ages 6-11

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🚨Important Information🚨

A message from our Township Trustees regarding the upcoming May 5th Primary Election and the future of our fire department.

"Without additional funding, staffing reductions will be unavoidable, which will have serious and lasting consequences for our fire department. Lives, homes, and businesses will be at greater risk. This is not a distant concern, it is a real and pressing issue that affects every resident"

Grant Funding Expired March 2026

Attend the Next Trustees Meeting April 21st at 6pm- Township senior center

Primary Election May 5th

Potential Staffing reductions January 2027

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The fireflies aren't gone. They're underground. And they're glowing right now where nobody can see them.

Every firefly you chased last July started life as a larva in the soil of your yard. Right now — late March — those larvae are in the top 4 inches of dirt, actively hunting, actively glowing, and 10 weeks away from becoming the flying lights you remember.

The underground phase:
→ Firefly eggs were laid on the soil surface last August. They hatched in 3-4 weeks.
→ The larvae — called glowworms — burrowed into the top few inches of soil and began hunting immediately
→ They eat slugs, snails, earthworms, and other soft-bodied invertebrates — injecting them with a paralyzing enzyme and dissolving them from the inside
→ They glow. Not to attract mates (that's the adult's job). The larval glow is a warning: "I taste terrible. Don't eat me." The bioluminescence chemical is toxic to most predators.
→ They've been underground since September — 7 months of darkness, hunting, growing, glowing where nobody can see

The chemistry:
→ The glow is produced by luciferin reacting with luciferase enzyme in the presence of oxygen and ATP
→ It's the most efficient light production in nature — 98% of the energy becomes light, 2% becomes heat. A lightbulb is 10% light, 90% heat. The firefly is 49x more efficient.
→ The color varies by species: yellow-green, orange, and even blue
→ Larvae glow continuously when disturbed. Adults flash in species-specific patterns for mating.

What happens in the next 10 weeks:
→ Week 1-4 (now): Larvae feed intensively as soil warms. Growth accelerates.
→ Week 5-7 (late April): Larvae pupate in small soil chambers. No movement. Transformation.
→ Week 8 (mid-May): Adults emerge from soil after dark. Wings unfold.
→ Week 9-10 (late May-early June): First flashes appear over your lawn at dusk. The season begins.

What your lawn is doing to them:
→ Lawn pesticides kill firefly larvae on contact — they live in the top 4 inches where chemicals concentrate
→ Broadleaf herbicides kill the ground cover that shelters the slugs and snails larvae eat — removing the food chain from below
→ Leaf removal strips the moisture layer larvae need to survive winter
→ Artificial light at night disrupts adult mating signals — they can't see each other's flashes against the glow

Every firefly you see in June survived 10 months underground in your soil.
They're there right now. Glowing in the dirt. Waiting.

Don't spray. Don't rake. Don't light. And in 10 weeks, they show up.

A look back - Park Newsletter from 2013 - park history and activities.

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🐦 MARCH MIGRATION PREVIEW — WHO'S COMING 🐦

The next 30 days will transform your backyard.

WEEK 1 (March 1-7):
- Eastern Phoebe — First flycatcher, "FEE-bee!" call
- Tree Swallow — Iridescent blue, checking nest boxes
- American Woodcock — Sky dance expanding northward
- Purple Martin — Scouts arriving in southern states

WEEK 2 (March 8-14):
- Eastern Bluebird — Pairing up, claiming boxes
- Fox Sparrow — Rufous beauty, scratching leaf litter
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker — Drumming on trees
- Northern Flicker — Loud "wicka wicka" calls

WEEK 3 (March 15-21):
- Osprey — Fish hawks returning to nests
- American Kestrel — Cavity hunting intensifies
- Belted Kingfisher — Following thawing waterways
- Rusty Blackbird — Rare, declining, look for them!

WEEK 4+ (March 22-31):
- Louisiana Waterthrush — First warbler-like bird
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher — Tiny, active, building nests
- Barn Swallow — Classic forked tail returns
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet — Huge song from tiny bird

This is what you have to look forward to.
The great wave is coming.

Park News:

Windmill: The windmill pump has been non-operational for quite some time caused by heavy rust build up. The pump has been pulled repeatedly for repair but at this time Trustees have placed pump repair on hold. The low pond water level is due to the severe drought in Central Ohio fueled by high temperatures and record-low rainfall that is causing significant, rapid drops in pond water levels in the area, including Pleasant Twp. Park.

Park Benches: Park benches in poor condition are being replaced. The memorial plaques are saved in the framed plaque holder at the entrance to the woodland. Benches added in the future will be placed in open areas rather than the woodland.

Managed Prairie Burn: The park prairie is scheduled to be burned this spring. Benefits of prescribed prairie burns include: stimulating new growth, ash from burned material fertilizes the soil and promotes nutrient-rich growth, suppresses invasive species that choke out native plants, fresh growth provides food for wildlife, allows sunlight to warm the soil which stimulates dormant seeds and encourages diverse wildflower blooms. Park visitors will be amazed at how quickly the prairie greens up!

Shelter reservation: Shelter reservation can be made by contacting the Trustee office at 740-389-6029.

Township meetings: 3rd Tuesdays Monthly at 6PM located at the Senior Center