PA Young Birders Field Trip: John Heinz NWR at Tinicum

Four young birders and their parents joined Debbie and I for a delightful walk around John Heinz NWR at Tinicum on this very warm morning.

Catching the end of the breeding season we found many baby birds outside the nest – fledglings being fed by parents. This included active Orchard Orioles, and two different Yellow Warblers feeding Brown-headed Cowbirds (above). A few species were just building a nest, perhaps their second of the season, and Nathaniel found a Willow Flycatcher nest.

We got excellent looks at a Marsh Wren constructing his/her large drooping nest in the cattails on the edge of the marsh. Numerous Cedar Waxwings were active around the refuge include one tidying up its nest. We saw three different families of Wood Ducks, the largest having 20 ducklings following their mother!

Everyone enjoyed watching a Great Blue Heron (above) stalking close to the boardwalk. Amazingly he speared a giant sized carp and had to get it off his bill in order to eat it. He finally put his bill down into the water and the fish slid off. He speared it again, repeated the process but had a hard time getting into position to swallow it. We left before he was successful.

We were intrigued by the behavior of an Eastern Kingbird (above) whacking a European Hornet in order to dislodge the stinger before taking it to its nest.

A major highlight was four juvenile Cooper’s Hawks (above) on a nest. These youngsters have begun to branch out of the nest and will soon fledge. They will remain dependent upon their parents for food for several more weeks until they master the necessary skills for flying and hunting.

There were many turtles including four huge Snapping Turtles, and we enjoyed a nice variety of butterflies including Horace’s Duskywing, Pearl Crescent, Comma and Red-spotted Purple.

We completed the checklist together in the welcome coolness of the air-conditioned visitors center, tallying 46 species.  A good time was had by all.