For all of its rich and well-known offerings to anglers and hunters, one of northwestern Pennsylvania’s other marvelous outdoors opportunities often is overlooked: Birdwatching.
Presque Isle State Park is an Audubon Important Bird Area where more than 320 bird species have been sighted. Spring migration is a wonder at the park, the final spit of land that colorful songbirds see before they head over Lake Erie and onto their summer grounds.
Erie Bluffs State Park, Erie National Wildlife Refuge, Pymatuning State Park, Allegheny National Forest, Oil Creek State Park, Cook Forest State Park and myriad other public places, let alone back yards, provide even more windows to the avian world.
And where there are birds, there are birders.
Many birdwatchers, experienced and novice alike, find their way to the Presque Isle Audubon Society. From time to time, NWPA Outdoors will profile a birder you might have seen out and about, neck craned to his or her binoculars, spotting scope or camera. You’ll learn a bit more about the birders, and hopefully a lot about the birds and ecology of the Erie region.
