Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Of all the places I've visited in Pennsylvania, the place I keep coming back to over and over is Peace Valley Park near Doylestown. I visited several times during the early spring to try and find a Red-headed Woodpecker ( Melanerpes erythrocephalus ) that had been reported near the Angler's Pier on the southwestern side. As usual, my ability to find rare or hard to find birds was hampered by the bird not appearing before me, so eventually I gave up .Then again, the first few times I looked for it, I had gone in the wrong direction... Yesterday however, I decided to see if I could walk around the entire lake and see as many birds as possible. I started around 4:15pm and no sooner had I left my car than I noticed some swallows sitting on the wires near the Lavender Farm across the street. The chattering buzz of the Barn Swallows ( Hirundo rustica ) and twittering notes of Tree Swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor ) whirled in air above me and some alighted near a pair of smaller, bro...

Over the past few weeks, I've been keeping track of new birds arriving on the property where I work and was delighted when the Wood Thrushes ( Hylocichla mustelina ) had returned early this month. As I walked through the woods, along a boardwalk that straddled the wet woods near my accommodations, I heard the rapid "pit-pit" calls of an alarmed bird and looked up to find a male Wood Thrush in full song. As I write this, I wanted to create another basic guide to recognizing similar looking birds after seeing the popularity and success of " On the Wing #69: Swallow, Swift, or Martin? ". After birding in the Sourlands near Hopewell, NJ today and seeing several species of thrushes, I think I've come upon the ideal topic. At this time of year, you are most likely to come across three species of thrush: the ubiquitous American Robin ( Turdus migratorius ), the aforementioned Wood Thrush, and the migrant Swainson's Thrush ( Catharus ustulatus ). The shyer Vee...

I had the great fortune of visiting a wonderful preserve yesterday in search of warblers and spring migrants. As this month marks the main passage of spring migrants in the Mid-Atlantic region, I have decided to do a big month to try and see as many different warblers, for as many points as possible. I made up an arbitrary point system where common species are worth 1 point, harder to find species are worth 3 points, and life birds are worth 5 points. I also added in the possibility of seeing Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers for 10 and 12 points respectively. As of this morning, I have 9 points after seeing 9 species over the past two days. In the morning, I visited an excellent birding area called Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, located near my favorite artisan town of New Hope, PA. As I exited the car, birdsong surrounded me. The sweet, squeaky notes of a Black-and-White Warbler ( Mniotilta varia ) rang down from one of the nearby trees, while a Blue-gray Gnatcatch...