Nine Great Spots For Bird-Watching in Philly and the ’Burbs
This is prime migration season for our feathered friends. Here, the best local places for watching them wing it.
A barn swallow lands on a Philadelphia railing. Photo by Getty Images
Sure, you can just glance out your back window and see birds; that’s part of their charm. But why not up your odds of glimpsing an egret or a swan, or even a snowy owl, when so many great birding spots are nearby? Just be warned: Sometimes, watching birds turns into a lifelong obsession.
It did for Linda Widdop, president of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, or DVOC (founded at the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1890, thank you very much). Widdop says her family used to visit Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, 30 miles north of Reading, to watch migrating raptors when she was a kid: “I’m so old that I could never imagine being in a position to see a bald eagle or an osprey or a peregrine. Now, new members yawn and say, ‘Oh, just another bald eagle.’” The resurgence can be traced to greater general environmental awareness, hard work by ecologists and ornithologists, and concrete steps like the banning of the pesticide DDT.
Widdop is a bit of a rare bird herself; she’s only the second female president in the club’s 120-plus-year history. Up until the mid-1980s, women weren’t even permitted to join. “In my opinion—and this isn’t based on academic research—birding requires some leisure time,” she points out. “And it’s been white men who have leisure time. For much of its history, the club was for white male ornithologists.” Today, she says, most members are no longer scientists, but “just birders like me.” The pandemic sent membership applications soaring, and thanks to social media, “There are more ways for birders to stay connected and share sightings. It’s really taken off.”
Spring migration runs from April 1st to May 31st; fall migration starts in August and caps off in October with New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Fall Festival. Oh, this spring, the city is again participating in Lights Out Philly, a special program to dim the lights in buildings to promote safe migration and avoid bird collisions.
Before you head out, visit websites or call ahead to check for COVID limitations and/or seasonal changes in hours.
View this post on Instagram
Awbury Arboretum
One Awbury Road, Germantown
Awbury is an eBird “hotspot” location; 126 species have been sighted in the past 15 years (birders really keep track of this stuff), including all the usual suspects (woodpeckers, robins, sparrows, starlings), lots of geese, and the occasional owl. The grounds are open daily year-round—and free!
View this post on Instagram
3401 Reservoir Drive, Fairmount Park
The reservoir attracts ducks and other waterfowl, especially during spring and fall migration; in the summer, you can spot everything from swifts to red-winged blackbirds to blue jays.
The website for this Audubon Pennsylvania outpost, which offers ornithologist-led bird walks every Saturday morning, has a list of public trans routes and Indego stations nearby. No registration is required, and you can borrow binoculars at no charge.
233 South Melville Street, West Philly
This designated wildlife area tucked behind a bunch of rowhomes is, believe it or not, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Birds are most active in the afternoon. The 16 species most often seen here include juncos, starlings, mourning doves, catbirds, goldfinches and purple finches. Try not to raise a ruckus; you’re literally in people’s backyards.
View this post on Instagram
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
800 Great Creek Road, Oceanville
Just 10 miles north of Atlantic City, this 47,000-acre refuge is mostly salt marsh, perfect for waterfowl, wading birds, and shorebirds like terns and gulls. More than 300 species have been sighted on the eight-mile-long wildlife drive (from cars!), including egrets, herons, ibises and even a spoonbill. It’s open year-round, but peaks are in spring and fall migration seasons.
View this post on Instagram
1700 Hawk Mountain Road, Kempton
As the name suggests, it’s a great spot for hawks. Also, bald eagles, peregrines, kestrels, vultures, osprey, harriers … it’s a raptor lover’s bird-a-palooza!
Trails are open daily year-round at this Pocono refuge; you’re encouraged to buy online tickets to reduce face-to-face contact. No pets are allowed. The Spring Count runs from April 1st through May 15th.
View this post on Instagram
John Heinz at Tinicum National Wildlife Refuge
8601 Lindbergh Boulevard, Southwest Philly
A prime spot to spot ducks, gulls, herons, bald eagles … Check the cool online birdlist for the most recent sightings. Though the visitor center is currently closed, trails at this national refuge in Southwest Philly are open daily, sunrise to sunset, at no charge.
View this post on Instagram
675 Park Road, Downingtown
During migration in spring and fall, you can see herons, osprey, swallows, nighthawks and shorebirds; permanent residents include woodpeckers, chickadees and cardinals. In summer, look for scarlet tanagers, Baltimore orioles, warblers, thrushes, and the elusive bluebird; there are houses for them all over the park.
View this post on Instagram
The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
8480 Hagy’s Mill Road, Roxborough
The website lists birds you’re likely to see along specific trails, including goldfinches, indigo buntings, catbirds and gnatcatchers. You can note what you see in the Sightings Book at the front desk.
Trails are free and open daily, dawn to dusk. There’s a birding club that holds special events.
View this post on Instagram
Northeast Philly
A guide prepared by Keith Russell, the program manager for urban conservation at Audubon Pennsylvania, is available online and provides a checklist of more than a hundred perching birds, waterfowl, raptors and woodpeckers that can be seen in the park, including more than two dozen species of warblers—Russell’s faves.
The former hunting grounds of the Lenni-Lenape are now open dawn to dusk (and free) year-round. There are bilingual bird walks on Saturdays in spring and fall.
