Please contact trip leader in advance if you are planning to go on a field trip.

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Hibernia County Park, Coatesville, PA

Place: 1 Park Road, Coatesville, PA, 8:00 a.m. Meet at the park office (40.029944,-75.841333)

Leaders: John Mercer (484-459-2062, mercer1135@aol.com), Patty Werth (484-985-8614, pattyww@comcast.net) and John Werth (215-859-1148)

Note: The Chester County Parks system has seven wonderful parks which provide excellent birdwatching opportunities.  Join the West Chester Bird Club and Valley Forge Audubon Society on these joint field trips to explore all seven of the parks, one per month, in 2022.

We begin the series at Hibernia County Park, home to woods, fields, and the 94-acre Chambers Lake.  We will meander through the park's various habitats searching for birds, and hope for some interesting waterfowl resting and feeding on the lake.

This field trip will cover 1-2 miles and will last approximately 2 hours.

Restrooms are available on site at the park office, where we will meet.

Hibernia Park

The Great Marsh

For: Winter Residents and Early Spring Migrants

Place: 28 Moores Road, Elverson, PA, 8:00 a.m.

Leader: Mike Coulter. If you plan to attend please email the Great Marsh Institute at lori@greatmarshinstitute.org to let them know to expect you. This will help them to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome.
 
Note: Join local birding expert Mike Coulter as he guides us through the Great Marsh, an ancient periglacial marsh and the largest marsh in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
 
This event is hosted by the Great Marsh Institute, a non-profit with the mission of supporting scientific studies and educational opportunities for all! This event is free, but donations of any amount are welcome to support the Institute! For full trip details see here. This will be about a 3 hour walk. Conditions could be muddy and very wet so wear appropriate footwear.
 
Please note that the property is private but you can always visit during our planned trips.
 
Directions: The marsh is off of Rt. 401 four miles northwest of Rt. 100 at Ludwig's Corner. Lat/Long = 40.127651, -75.767697 or use 28 Moores Road for GPS directions. Meet at the grassy parking area at the top of the hill near 28 Moores Road. Once you turn off of Rt. 401 on to Moore's Road proceed 1/4 mile along the gravel road. You will cross a bridge and at the 1/4 mile mark make a right up the hill on the paved part of the drive. This is the first right after the bridge. At the top of the hill you should see other cars parked in the meeting area.

Event Series Every Thursday Morning Exton Park, Exton, PA

Every Thursday Morning Exton Park, Exton, PA

For: Seasonal birds

Place: Exton Park, 8:30 a.m.

Leader: Various leaders in conjunction with Friends of Exton Park

Note: Formerly known as Church Farm Pond and now a part of Exton Park, this pond and surrounding wetland had been a popular birding spot for years.

Google MapDirections: From the intersection of Routes 30 and 202, drive west along Route 30 and turn right on Valley Creek Blvd. At the end of the road, make a left on Swedesford Road and park in the gravel parking lot on your left where the perimeter trail starts. This is a 1.5 mile walk and will take between 1.5 and 2 hours.

Exton Park

Event Series Every Thursday Morning Exton Park, Exton, PA

Every Thursday Morning Exton Park, Exton, PA

For: Seasonal birds

Place: Exton Park, 8:30 a.m.

Leader: Various leaders in conjunction with Friends of Exton Park

Note: Formerly known as Church Farm Pond and now a part of Exton Park, this pond and surrounding wetland had been a popular birding spot for years.

Google MapDirections: From the intersection of Routes 30 and 202, drive west along Route 30 and turn right on Valley Creek Blvd. At the end of the road, make a left on Swedesford Road and park in the gravel parking lot on your left where the perimeter trail starts. This is a 1.5 mile walk and will take between 1.5 and 2 hours.

Exton Park

What’s New With Birds on the Move? Recent discoveries about migratory bird ecology using radar and telemetry

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Dr. Jeffrey Buler - Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware
 

Dr. Buler will share highlights of recent and ongoing research by his lab and colleagues in the field of aeroecology; the study of the ecology of flying animals aloft. He will talk about how he uses radar and telemetry technologies to make new discoveries into 1) why and where birds stopover when migrating through the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes regions, 2) how waterfowl in the Delmarva peninsula may play a role for avian influenza transmission risk to poultry, and 3) the movement and roosting ecology of Purple Martins in our region.

 

Jeff Buler's broad research interests include avian ecology, landscape ecology, remote-sensing, and conservation biology. Dr. Buler established the Aeroecology Program at the University of Delaware in 2011. He is an international leader in the development of novel methods and software for using weather surveillance radars to study the broad-scale distribution, movement, and habitat use patterns of birds, insects, and bats.

 

Event Series Every Thursday Morning Exton Park, Exton, PA

Every Thursday Morning Exton Park, Exton, PA

For: Seasonal birds

Place: Exton Park, 8:30 a.m.

Leader: Various leaders in conjunction with Friends of Exton Park

Note: Formerly known as Church Farm Pond and now a part of Exton Park, this pond and surrounding wetland had been a popular birding spot for years.

Google MapDirections: From the intersection of Routes 30 and 202, drive west along Route 30 and turn right on Valley Creek Blvd. At the end of the road, make a left on Swedesford Road and park in the gravel parking lot on your left where the perimeter trail starts. This is a 1.5 mile walk and will take between 1.5 and 2 hours.

Exton Park

Nottingham County Park, Nottingham, PA

For: Local and migrating birds

Place: 150 Park Road, Nottingham, PA, 8:00 a.m. Meet at park office (39.740111,-76.037667)

Leader: John Mercer (484-459-2062, mercer1135@aol.com), Patty Werth (484-985-8164, pattyww@comcast.net) and John Werth (215-859-1148)

Note: The site for the 2nd in our series of monthly bird walks in the seven Chester County Parks, Nottingham County Park boasts some of the most unique natural features in the park system. This accessible park near the Maryland border protects a globally rare ecosystem comprised of serpentine rock, oak-pine barrens, savannahs, prairies, and many unique plants, which in turn harbor a wide variety of birds.

This outing will cover 1-2 miles and will last approximately 2 hours.

Restrooms are available on site at the park office, where we will meet.

Nottingham Park

The Great Marsh

For: Spring Migrants & Returning Summer Residents

Place: 28 Moores Road, Elverson, PA, 8:00 a.m.

Leader: Mike Coulter. If you plan to attend please email the Great Marsh Institute at lori@greatmarshinstitute.org to let them know to expect you. This will help them to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome.

Note: Join local birding expert Mike Coulter as he guides us through the Great Marsh, an ancient periglacial marsh and the largest marsh in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

This event is hosted by the Great Marsh Institute, a non-profit with the mission of supporting scientific studies and educational opportunities for all! This event is free, but donations of any amount are welcome to support the Institute! For full trip details see here. This will be about a 3 hour walk. Conditions could be muddy and very wet so wear appropriate footwear.

Please note that the property is private but you can always visit during our planned trips.

Directions: The marsh is off of Rt. 401 four miles northwest of Rt. 100 at Ludwig's Corner. Lat/Long = 40.127651, -75.767697 or use 28 Moores Road for GPS directions. Meet at the grassy parking area at the top of the hill near 28 Moores Road. Once you turn off of Rt. 401 on to Moore's Road proceed 1/4 mile along the gravel road. You will cross a bridge and at the 1/4 mile mark make a right up the hill on the paved part of the drive. This is the first right after the bridge. At the top of the hill you should see other cars parked in the meeting area.

Event Series Every Thursday Morning Exton Park, Exton, PA

Every Thursday Morning Exton Park, Exton, PA

For: Seasonal birds

Place: Exton Park, 8:30 a.m.

Leader: Various leaders in conjunction with Friends of Exton Park

Note: Formerly known as Church Farm Pond and now a part of Exton Park, this pond and surrounding wetland had been a popular birding spot for years.

Google MapDirections: From the intersection of Routes 30 and 202, drive west along Route 30 and turn right on Valley Creek Blvd. At the end of the road, make a left on Swedesford Road and park in the gravel parking lot on your left where the perimeter trail starts. This is a 1.5 mile walk and will take between 1.5 and 2 hours.

Exton Park

Struble Lake and Marsh Creek State Park, PA

For: Waterfowl, snipe

Google MapPlace: Struble Lake Parking lot, 8:00 a.m.

Leader: Jim Russell (610-399-1580, jrussell73@verizon.net)

Note: This is a half day trip. There is minimal walking involved. Due to Covid concerns, check with leader to confirm if a participant limit is in effect and if carpooling is occurring.

Directions: From Downingtown, take Route 322 west about 7 miles then take a slight right onto Chestnut Tree Road (after Sunoco gas tanks.) In about 3 miles bear left at stop sign onto Morgantown Road. The parking area for Struble Lake is 0.5 miles on the left.

Struble Lake

Marsh Creek State Park

Sparrows Simplified: Making Sense of the Little Brown Jobs

Zoom

Michael Moore - President of the Delaware Ornithological Society
 

Many birders struggle with identifying sparrows, referring to them as LBJ's (little brown jobs) or sparrow sp. This talk will help you tackle this difficult group. It will discuss and then attempt to blend the two main approaches to identification, the Peterson System and the Cape May School, to lead you to sparrow identification confidence. Each of the 16 species of regularly occurring sparrows in this area will be compared and contrasted with some discussion of finding and identifying rarities.
 

Mike is a recently retired Biology professor. He was at Arizona State University for 27 years and then at University of Delaware for 11 years before retiring a couple of years ago. He has published nearly 100 papers in scientific journals on behavior and hormones of birds and reptiles. He worked as an intern at Manomet Bird Observatory in Massachusetts in college and then completed a PhD in Zoology at the University of Washington on White-crowned Sparrows. He started birding in Massachusetts at 11 years old and has pursued it passionately since with a special interest in identification challenges and chasing rarities, splitting his field time between birds and his other passion, odonates. He is currently President of the Delaware Ornithological Society, a Vice President of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas and an eBIrd reviewer for Delaware.