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Photo by Gary Tyson
Those who went on the first Saturday Morning Bird Walk on April 1 at Hills Creek State Park saw a hermit thrush (shown).

Ten people went on the first free Saturday Morning Bird Walk on April 1 at Hills Creek State Park located on Hills Creek Road in Charleston Township, about seven miles northeast of Wellsboro. Five adults were from the Tiadaghton Audubon Society, including President Liz Kreger and her six-year-old son, Lisa Doud, Gary Tyson, Ken Cooper and Sean Minnick; a man from Galeton who expressed interest in joining the local birders’ group; and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of State Parks employees.

Minnick led the April Fool’s Day walk. “It was raining when I got to the Hills Creek State Park office around 7:45 a.m. and no one was here,” he said. “I had kind of expected that because the weather was bad. For the first walk of the season, it is usually raining, windy, slushy or cold and blustery,” said Minnick.

“I was pleasantly surprised when the rain suddenly stopped, a rainbow and the sun appeared followed by nine people who went with me on the walk. When we started, it was 40 degrees and when we stopped, it was 55 degrees,” he said.

“We had a couple of other great surprises, too. Normally, we would not see a redheaded duck, a hermit thrush or a common loon until later in April but we saw three redheaded ducks, one loon and one hermit thrush on April 1. The duck and loon are just migrating through and will probably stick around for a week or two but the thrush will be here all summer.”

The second guided walk is this Saturday, April 8. Participants will meet at the Hills Creek State Park office at 111 Spillway Road, Wellsboro, Pa. 16901-9676 a little before 8 a.m. and will drive to the nearby starting location promptly at 8 a.m.

The other walks will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturdays, April 15, 22 and 29 and May 6, 13, 20 and 27. They are all free and open to the public. Registration is NOT required.

For updates on the birds that have been seen in the area and helpful local birding information, visit www.facebook.com/TiadaghtonAudubon/ or tiadaghtonaudubon.blogspot.com or email tasmember@yahoo.com.

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800