Going Birding?
A monthly guide of where to go birding in the Delaware Valley Birding Region
We are blessed to have so many outstanding locations within a 90 mile radius or two hour drive of Philadelphia – this area being loosely known as the Delaware Valley. Immediately, National Wildlife Refuges sites such as Edwin Forsythe aka Brigantine, Bombay Hook and John Heinz aka Tinicum come to mind, not to mention the whole Cape May area; numerous forests, preserves, state and county parks; reservoirs, rivers, bays and coastal marshes and sandy beaches; hawk and sea watches; nature centers and nature parks along with a plethora of other smaller patches that are highly desirable birding spots.
This BIRDING BY MONTH section provides suggestions on particular birding location during certain months, should you want to go out birding or to look for a certain target species. While a number of these sites could be birded with success at almost any time of year, we have made an effort not to repeat ourselves too often and in certain cases just mentioned what a particular location has to offer at that time of year.
As a generalization:
Waterfowl
best seen from October through March as they spend the winters in a more southern location
Geese
November through March
Sparrows
From October through April when they tend to congregate in larger numbers in weedy fields
Warblers and Passerines
From mid April through June during spring migration with the peak being in the first 3 weeks of May, and again in September and October as they head south
Thrushes
In May as they pass through on passage to breed in more northerly locations
Raptors
From mid September through November as they make their way south
Owls
When in some years a number of species spend the winter months in our area
Shorebirds
In May as they pass through on their way to their breeding grounds in the far north and again when they head south from July through September
Terns
Along the coast in late summer, July through September