The Brodhead Watershed Association and the Pocono Avian Research Center are hosting a new Virtual Birding video at Camp William Penn, part of the Delaware State Forest, in Monroe and Pike Counties.

Darryl and Jackie Speicher of Pocono Avian Research Center think the quarantine is for the birds – a great time to try birding, that is.

The bird experts lead the way in Brodhead Watershed Association’s new “virtual birding” video at Camp William Penn in northeastern Pennsylvania. View this armchair adventure, and then, if you can, get out to hike the trail yourself, remembering to keep at least 6 feet away from other hikers.

Wide, grassy trails guide hikers toward birds sightings — the American robin, the cedar waxwing, the iridescent green mallard. The “oh wow” birds are regulars here, too — great blue herons, American bald eagles and osprey.

“Adding a new bird to your life-list is cool,” Darryl says. “But for me, it’s watching bird behavior that’s fascinating.”

On a nearby snag, a sapsucker swoops out and snags insects. “See, now that’s interesting,” Darryl says. “Sapsuckers are woodpeckers that drill holes in trees to snatch the insects that come to feed on the sap. But this one is hawking insects like a flycatcher.”

Click Here to go virtual birding.

Going In-Person?

Camp William Penn is part of Delaware State Forest and open to the public, so you can go birding or walking there yourself. Click Here for trail maps and other information.

Directions: From Route 447 in Price Township, take Snow Hill Road for 5 miles. You will come to a crossroad. Go left (you are still on Snow Hill Road). Go about two-tenths of a mile, past a pull-off for an automated weather station. The parking area is on your right. GPS coordinates: 41.153986, -75.149820

For more information on programs, initiatives and other upcoming events, visit the Brodhead Watershed Association website.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Association.  Click Here to become a member.

Related Articles - Wildlife:

-- Game Commission: Online Elk Cam Goes Live

-- Educator Offers Video Of 6,000 Year-Old Danville Riverside Eel Dam And Eels To The Classroom Project In The Susquehanna River Watershed

-- Outdoor Discovery Center At Crooked Creek Hosts Peregrine Falcons - An Environmental Success Story Online Program Sept. 17

-- PA Environmental Council Podcast: Why We Need Wildlife Corridors

-- State Agencies Issue Alert To Contain Invasive 'Rock Snot' In Quemahoning Creek, Somerset County

-- Bay Journal: Microplastics, Cigarette Butts, Straws Found In PA Susquehanna River Smallmouth Bass

[Posted: Sept. 2, 2020]

9/7/2020