It was a beautiful spring morning on Saturday for our 9th Spring Bird Walk in Glen Providence Park! Alas, we had canceled last year’s due to Covid, so we were especially excited to hold the walk again this year. It was the 4th bird walk that Dave Eberly has led for us. Predictably we heard more birds than we saw, but we identified seven warbler species, Baltimore Orioles, a Cooper’s Hawk, and we even managed to document a new species for our Park Bird List, the Gray-cheeked Thrush! That brings the number of species documented in Glen Providence Park to 129.

Thank you very much to Dave Eberly for leading yet another bird walk for us, to the wonderful group who attended, and to Carol Carmon for videoing. Watch the video on YouTube for an explanation of bird behavior during migration, what eBird is used for, and a glimpse of some of the birds seen on our walk.

Here is our complete checklist of 37 species for Saturday, May 15, 2021, as entered on eBird:

Mourning Dove – 1
Common Loon – 1
Turkey Vulture – 3
Cooper’s Hawk – 1
Red-tailed Hawk – 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Pileated Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 2
Red-eyed Vireo – 4
Blue Jay – 4
American Crow – 2
Carolina Chickadee – 2
Tufted Titmouse – 4
White-breasted Nuthatch – 1
House Wren – 3
Carolina Wren – 2
Gray Catbird – 15
Gray-cheeked Thrush – 1 – A new species for our Park Bird List!
Wood Thrush – 5
American Robin – 10
American Goldfinch – 4
White-throated Sparrow – 1
Song Sparrow – 3
Baltimore Oriole – 2
Red-winged Blackbird – 2
Brown-headed Cowbird – 1
Common Yellowthroat – 2
American Redstart – 1
Northern Parula – 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler – 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 1
Canada Warbler – 1
Scarlet Tanager – 1
Northern Cardinal – 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 1

5/27: Edited to add YouTube link

Join us for a bird walk in Glen Providence Park during spring migration! We’ll look for warblers and other migrants, and see if we can add to the 127 species on the Park Bird List. We will be led by Dave Eberly – a lifelong birder, for the past 27 years, he has participated in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC), the world’s longest-running Citizen Science project. For the past 10 years, he has taken on the important task of compiling all CBC data for Delaware County!

Spring Bird Walk

Saturday, May 5, 2018
8:00-10:00am
*Kirk Lane entrance
Rain or shine

Logistics:

• * Please note the location- we are starting at the Upper Providence entrance at Third Street and Kirk Lane. *
• Estimated distance: 1-1.5 miles
• Estimated time: 2 hours
• Rain or shine
• Free!
• Be prepared for steep hills, and uneven (possibly wet) terrain: wear your hiking shoes, bring a hiking pole if you use one… and of course binoculars and your favorite bird book or app!

What a great turnout for our Spring Bird Walk in Glen Providence Park this morning – we had 22 people, including 2 kids, and 2 members of the Penncrest High School Envirothon team! We were led by Tom Bush of the Birding Club of Delaware County, who took time to show us what birds to look for before we started, and gave us helpful tips during the walk. While the rain held out, we heard more birds than we saw, reminding us how helpful it is to learn bird songs!

We saw oodles of endearing Catbirds, a Red-eyed Vireo, Baltimore Orioles, and Yellow-rumped Warblers, and heard many birds including the ever-lovely Wood Thrush. Some of us lingered afterwards listening as activity increased – new for me was the buzzy call of the Green-throated Warbler, “trees, trees, murmuring trees.”

Thank you to Tom Bush for leading us, to naturalist Tom Reeves for joining us, and to the birders of all ages who came out early on a Saturday morning!

Spring Bird Walk eBird List

May 6, 2017
32 species

A Wood Thrush I saw hopping along the trail two days earlier. It is likely one of the ones we heard calling on our walk!

2 – Canada Goose
1 – Great Blue Heron
2 – Turkey Vulture
1 – Sharp-shinned Hawk
4 – Mourning Dove
4 – Red-bellied Woodpecker
2 – Downy Woodpecker
1 – Hairy Woodpecker
1 – Northern Flicker
1 – Eastern Phoebe
1 – Great Crested Flycatcher
4 – Red-eyed Vireo
6 – Blue Jay 
3 – American Crow
2 – Carolina Chickadee
5 – Tufted Titmouse
4 – House Wren
4 – Carolina Wren
2 – Veery
2 – Wood Thrush
7 – American Robin
16 – Gray Catbird
2 – Northern Parula
1 – Blackpoll Warbler
1 – Black-throated Blue Warbler
5 – Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 – Black-throated Green Warbler
5 – Song Sparrow
2 – Eastern Towhee
3 – Northern Cardinal
1 – Brown-headed Cowbird                
3 – Baltimore Oriole

Join us for a bird walk in Glen Providence Park during spring migration! We’ll look for warblers and all sorts of other migrants, and see if we can add to the 127 species on the park’s bird list. This walk will be led by Tom Bush – he’s a lifelong birder, an officer of the Birding Club of Delaware County, and he has led bird walks at Smedley Park and John Heinz NWR. Tom has been on several of our walks – we are delighted that he will be leading this one! 

Spring Bird Walk

Saturday, May 6, 2016
7:30-9:30am
*Kirk Lane entrance
Rain or shine

Logistics:

• * Please note the location- we are starting at the Upper Providence entrance at Third Street and Kirk Lane. *
• Estimated distance: 1-1.5 miles
• Estimated time: 2 hours
• Rain or shine
• Free!
• Be prepared for steep hills, and uneven (possibly wet) terrain: wear your hiking shoes, bring a hiking pole if you use one… and of course binoculars and your favorite bird book or app!

Conditions were a bit challenging for our sixth Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in Glen Providence Park – it was freezing rain! The ground was slick, the sound of the rain made it difficult to hear the birds, our binoculars fogged, and the eyepieces filled with water. The scenery was lovely nonetheless, with ice glistening on the trees, and we managed to identify some of the usual suspects. It certainly was a refreshing Saturday morning in the midst of the holidays!

It was the 117th year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list for Saturday, December 17, 2016:

Mourning Dove – 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 3
Blue Jay – 1
American Crow – 1
Carolina Chickadee – 2
Tufted Titmouse – 4
White-breasted Nuthatch – 2
American Robin – 20
Northern Mockingbird – 1
Dark-eyed Junco – 2
White-throated Sparrow – 3
Northern Cardinal – 1

Pond panorama

What a wonderful (if rainy!) bird walk this morning in Glen Providence Park! Spring migration did not disappoint – led by Al Guarente, we identified 45 species of birds. The additions of Pine Warbler, Common Loon, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo bring our Park Bird List to 123 species! Other highlights were a Spotted Sandpiper at the pond, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Ovenbird, Veery, and of course hearing the ever-lovely Wood Thrush.

Thank you to Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County for leading his 6th(!) bird walk for us, to Dave Eberly for joining us, and to the intrepid birders who joined us on a cold and rainy morning.
 

Spring Bird Walk eBird List:

May 7, 2016
45 species

1 – Canada Goose
2 – Mallard
1 – Common Loon
2 – Spotted Sandpiper
2 – Solitary Sandpiper
1 – Yellow-billed Cuckoo
1 – Belted Kingfisher
2 – Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 – Downy Woodpecker
2 – Hairy Woodpecker
1 – Northern Flicker
1 – Eastern Phoebe
1 – Great Crested Flycatcher
1 – Yellow-throated Vireo
1 – Blue-headed Vireo
1 – Red-eyed Vireo
1 – Blue Jay
1 – American Crow
1 – Carolina Chickadee
2 – Tufted Titmouse
2 – House Wren
4 – Carolina Wren
1 – Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1 – Veery
2 – Wood Thrush
1 – American Robin
5 – Gray Catbird
1 – Ovenbird
1 – Black-and-white Warbler
3 – Common Yellowthroat
1 – American Redstart
1 – Northern Parula
1 – Yellow Warbler
1 – Pine Warbler
1 – Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 – Chipping Sparrow
2 – White-throated Sparrow
1 – Song Sparrow
1 – Scarlet Tanager
5 – Northern Cardinal
3 – Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 – Brown-headed Cowbird
2 – Baltimore Oriole
2 – House Finch
1 – American Goldfinch

Join us for a bird walk in Glen Providence Park during spring migration! We’ll look for warblers and all sorts of other migrants – and see if we can add to the 120 species on the park’s bird list. This walk will be led by Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County – it will be the 6th bird walk that Al has led for us!
 

Spring Bird Walk

Saturday, May 7, 2016
7:30-9:30am
*Kirk Lane entrance
Rain or shine

Logistics:

• * Please note the location- we are starting at the Upper Providence entrance at Third Street and Kirk Lane. *
• Estimated distance: 1-1.5 miles
• Estimated time: 2 hours
• Rain or shine
• Free!
• Be prepared for steep hills, and uneven (possibly wet) terrain: wear your hiking shoes, and bring a hiking pole if you use one… and of course binoculars and your favorite bird book or app!

It was a chilly but beautiful Saturday morning when we participated in our fifth Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in Glen Providence Park! Our most exciting sighting was a beautiful white Red-tailed Hawk soaring overhead – this was likely due to leucism, a partial loss of pigmentation in animals. The hawk was a beautiful sight against the blue sky, though our view was through tree branches. The most numerous species we saw was winter visitor Dark-eyed Junco, often accompanied by White-throated Sparrows. In this unusually warm December, the invasive periwinkle (vinca) was in bloom. It was a peaceful and refreshing way to spend a Saturday morning in the midst of the holidays!

It was the 116th year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Our final count totaled 151 birds of 23 species. Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list for Saturday, December 19, 2015:

Canada Goose – 13
Mallard – 17
Turkey Vulture – 4
Red-tailed Hawk (leucistic) – 1
Mourning Dove – 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 1
Blue Jay – 4
American Crow – 8
Carolina Chickadee – 3
Tufted Titmouse – 15
White-breasted Nuthatch – 4
Carolina Wren – 1
American Robin – 5
European Starling – 8
Dark-eyed Junco – 22
White-throated Sparrow – 13
Song Sparrow – 3
Northern Cardinal – 6
Common Grackle – 1
House Finch – 12

Join Friends of Glen Providence Park in our 5th year participating in the Christmas Bird Count, the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! The CBC was started on Christmas Day 1900 by the Audubon Society, in reaction to the tradition known as the Christmas “Side Hunt”: whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won. Instead of hunting birds, the CBC would count them!

116th Annual Christmas Bird Count

Saturday, December 19
8:00-10:00am
Rain, snow or shine
* Park entrance at 3rd & West Streets *

In this early-winter bird census, thousands of volunteers across the US, Canada, and many countries in the Western Hemisphere go out over a 24-hour period to count birds. Researchers and conservation biologists use the data to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America.

It’s a wonderful way to slow down for a morning and take a break from the holiday rush. Join us this year!

Logistics

• * Please note the location- we will meet at the 3rd & West Street park entrance *
• Be prepared for steep hills and rugged, possibly muddy terrain
• Experienced and novice birdwatchers welcome, just remember this is an official census so we will be working – if you can call walking in the park and admiring wildlife working!
• Of course, bring your binoculars and bird guides!

Friends of Glen Providence Park will submit our results to the CBC Compiler for Delaware County. We will also post the results on our website!

We experienced several trail conditions at our Winter Bird Walk in Glen Providence Park on Sunday, from ice and snow to slush and mud! Despite the challenging trails and cold weather, the birds were active and cooperative. We spotted a nice array of species, including multiple kinds of woodpeckers, sparrows, hawks and crows. An ever-endearing Brown Creeper (in photo) seemed to follow us along the path, while a Winter Wren determinedly hid from us in some brush. Throughout the park, we encountered remarkably chatty and active Carolina Wrens. As we finished, we were treated to pairs of Hooded Mergansers and Black Ducks, then a flock of Snow Geese flew overhead!

It was an appropriate first event for the 80th Anniversary year of Glen Providence Park, which George and Eleanor Butler donated in 1935 as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum!

Thank you so much to the intrepid souls who attended, and to Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County for leading his 5th bird walk for us!

Winter Bird Walk eBird list:

January 25, 2015
27 species

200 – Snow Goose
100 – Canada Goose
2 – American Black Duck
25 – Mallard
3 – Hooded Merganser
1 – Turkey Vulture
1 – Red-shouldered Hawk
1 – Red-tailed Hawk
1 – Mourning Dove
3 – Red-bellied Woodpecker
5 – Downy Woodpecker
1 – Hairy Woodpecker
1 – Northern Flicker
3 – Blue Jay
2 – American Crow
1 – Fish Crow
15 – Carolina Chickadee
20 – Tufted Titmouse
3 – White-breasted Nuthatch
1 – Brown Creeper
1 – Winter Wren
10 – Carolina Wren
1 – Song Sparrow
10 – White-throated Sparrow
20 – Dark-eyed Junco
5 – Northern Cardinal
1 – American Goldfinch