John Heinz NWR Day Trip

On Sunday, April 17 I ran a field trip to John Heinz NWR located just outside of Philadelphia. There where seven (7) members of the Quittapahilla Audubon Society in attendance, meeting at 6;00am for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Philadelphia area and the John Heinz NWR.(see link below). 

Incidentally, the John Heinz NWR was the first Urban Wildlife Refuge created in the United States.

John Heinz NWR  

We arrived by 7:45am and meat our local trip leaders for the day: Lynn & Mary Ellen - both volunteers with the Friends of John Heinz NWR group. After some short introductions, it was time to begin birding....and we no sooner left the visitors center when we heard an Easter Phoebe, House Wren, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher and Carolina wren  singing - it was going to be a great day of birding.

Blue Grey Gnatcatcher

I had several target bird in mind for the trip including: Palm & Pine Warblers and Rusty Blackbirds. In the first two hour we had good looks at all three target species.

Pine Warbler

Rusty Blackbird

Surprising, there where still many white Throated Sparrows in the area, with the males in full breeding plumage....I would guess they will not be around much longer and will be heading North.

Another species that I was interested in seeing was a Sora Rail that was reported in the area the last few days. I really did hold out much hope as we approached the area where the Sora was reported last seen, but as luck would have it, one of the group spotted the Sora walking among the reeds - in full view with great looks for about 3 minutes before disappearing the reeds. We checked several more times before leaving for the day and never did spot the Sora again.

Sora Rail

After viewing the Sora we proceeded to the view the Eagle Nest and see if we could spot any of the young...and again as luck would have it...just as we arrived one of the adults was on the nest and a young eaglet 'popped' it head head up for a look around....a thrill for all in our group.

We next went looking for another reported species the Blue wing teal We didn't have my luck until we where about to finish our 5 1/2 hour trip - an a pair was spotted on the water near boardwalk exiting the pond area...we all had great looks at them. 

Blue Winged Teal

We walked around the pond for total of 3.5 miles and ended the day with a total of 50 species. After thanking our guides for a wonderful day of birding, we ate lunch and reviewed our listing for the day. After finishing our trip list and lunch, we proceeded to the parking, loaded the cars and began our drive home, arriving around 4:00pm and already looking forward to next years trip.

If you ever visit the Philadelphia area, a side trip to John Heinz NWR is recommended.

Not all the wander are lost.