The Naturalist Notebook

Late March and early April mark the beginning migratory flights of American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) returning to their North American breeding grounds. The hawk watchers at Tussey Mountain start to see kestrels as early as the last week in March. Some of the kestrels passing over Tussey Mountain could find themselves in Quebec or Ontario…

Shaver’s Creek is undeniably a community of bird lovers. Tales of unique birds and first of the year sightings spread among staff, volunteers, and visitors like wildfire. Because we are birders it is important for us to support the conservation of these animals. As environmental educators, we try to do that in a variety of…

On a rainy night on the first of March, a large mole salamander has emerged from the ground after spending almost the entire year just beneath the surface of the earth. This amphibian, of the mole salamander family, is called a spotted salamander. He is preparing to begin his journey to a very special place.…

A Recap of the Fall 2016 Monarch Migration in Central Pennsylvania. Every spring and fall an amazing occurrence in the animal kingdom takes place: migration. Bird enthusiasts from all around the world flock together to feast their eyes upon the thousands of bird species that travel south to warmer climates in the fall, and sojourn…

Autumn is the time of Pennsylvania’s greatest watercolor. A whirlwind of colors sweep the landscape for a brief amount of time before the landscape takes a great plunge into winter. It is the last breath and a splendid farewell for all of the insects and many animal friends until we meet them again in the…

This post was originally written at the end of the summer season. As the summer is winding down, I have taken the time to reflect on my experiences as an intern at Shaver’s Creek. When I first got here I was super excited to start my journey working with raptors, learning about the summer camps…

It was 12 a.m. on the cloudy morning of October 9th as I stumbled through the darkness to find my way to Loon’s Lookout. The only source of light was coming from the Shaver’s Creek parking lot and the cabin lights across Lake Perez at the Civil Engineering Lodge. As I approached the lookout I…

Hawk Watch. That’s an app, right? Wrong. Hawk watching is actually a citizen science program where individuals spend their day outdoors and their eyes fixed on the sky. The point of this program is to get a count of migrating bird species and the number of individuals in each species. The sign leading to the…

“Almost everything concrete we know about wild birds we know from banding them.”  — Scott Weidensaul This past February I had the privilege to travel to Honduras for twelve days with ten enthusiastic birdwatchers on a birding for conservation tour. With a tally of over three hundred species on the trip, it’s hard to think…

You hear it all the time, whether you’re aware of it or not: the fantastic music extravaganza that is nature’s sound! It’s not played by any traditional orchestra or symphony, but rather by many different living and non-living things. This concert is much like real life theme music. Just like how certain songs play in…