A Bald Eagle, Some Birds And Great Views On A Cold And Windy Hike Along The Lehigh River In The Lehigh Gap

It was chilly and cloudy day  when a awoke Sunday morning.  I decided to hike on along the Lehigh River near the Lehigh Gap in Carbon County hoping to see some wood ducks in the ponds at the Bowmanstown trail head. or some migrating raptors on the Lehigh and New England Trail .

I drove the 25 miles to the Riverview Park in Bowmanstown and walked through the park down to the Lehigh River.

There are primitive camp sites there and I was surprised to see a tent and some folks camping there.

I left the park and walked about a 1/2 mile on the D &L trail,

to the Three Pond Trail.I was hoping to see some mallard and wood ducks on the ponds, as I often do. I did see a couple of both but they saw me first and flew off before I could get any photos.

I walked along the trail, through gray birch, pine, scrub oak and red maple trees.

The only birds I saw or heard in the woods were male red winged blackbirds.

I followed the trail past the ponds and up slopes of the Blue or Kittattiny Mountain.

A few spring ran off the mountain and there were many lush green skunk cabbages growing along the stream.

I hiked up to the Lehigh and New England Trail that followed the abandoned railroad right of way that operated here from 1895  until 1962.

It was a flat, well maintained trail but it took me in a southeasterly direction right into a cold, raw wind. I want expecting to see much wildlife or bird activity on this cold and cloudy day.I walked on the trail where mostly pine, birch and a lot of contorted sassafras trees grew.

After about a 1/2 mile the trail approached the edge of the ridge and I had views of the Lehigh River below.

Here I was rewarded with the sight of a  juvenile bald eagle flying over the trail,

and landing on a tree branch just above me on the trail. It had its back turned away from me as I tried to take some photos, but, just before it flew off it turned around , as if to say, here is a photo, you deserve it for being up here on this cold and windy day.

before it flew off into the cloudy sky.

And it was cold, as the strong easterly wind got stronger, and I wasn’t dressed for it. I continued my hike,

not expecting to see much bird activity in the cold and windy conditions on the ridge , but I saw the first of a number of flocks of golden crowned kinglets feeding on pine cones,

I also saw a few flicks of eastern blue birds, and

a mourning dove.

The trail took me through the prairie and other native grasses planted on the side of the Blue Mountain. When I was younger the entire mountain was bare and brown, as a result of contamination from the zinc plant in Palmerton. I wrote more about this in previous blogs which can be found using the search tool on my blog. These grasses were planted to reclaim the devastated slopes of the mountain side and were a great success.

As I continued I came to the famous landmark atop the hill in Palmerton, the Marshall Mansion. As a chikd, when it was abandoned, I thought it was haunted. .Lot of history here which you can read in the link or my previous blog posts.

I was now approaching the famous Lehigh Gap,.

Again, so much history here, beginning with the Native Americans who followed the Lehigh River to the woodland in the Pocono Mountains and also to the Susquehanna River.

After the Moravian’s arrived and settled near Lehighton, know then  as Gnadenhutten,  “Tents of Grace”  confrontation with the Native Americans  resulted in the colonial government in Philadelphia sending a young Benjamin Franklin to establish a series of forts along the Blue Mountian . He traveled through this gap in the 1760’s to built Fort Allen in present day Weissport. A lot more on the history can be found in my previous blogs.

The trail narrowed here as it approached the cliffs above the Lehigh River.

It is hard to believe a railroad trail would pass in this trail. I only saw one person on the trail in this cold and windy morning, a gentleman walking his dog.

I came to an overview of the Lehigh River at the gap, and

then had to climb down a steep and rocky trail to to the D & L Trail along the Lehigh River..

Before heading back on the trail I stopped at the Visitor Center ,

where I saw a few house finches near the pond.

I hiked back on the wider and well maintained D & L Tail. This was also an abandoned railroad right of way. The historic Lehigh Valley Railroad would run its trains on this trail.

I walked beneath the cliffs I had just hiked above, and this mural on one of the bridge supports of the abandoned railroad.

It was  much warmer walking on the trail along the river without the strong easterly wind blowing in my face. And there were now a lot of people walking, running and biking on the trail.

I was hoping to see some water fowl on the river. I usually see common mergansers, hooded mergansers and mallard ducks on the river, but there were none on Sunday.

I did see some bird activity in the wood lands along the trail. There were a few flocks of white throated sparrows,

black-capped chickadees,

dark eyed juncos and

a white breasted nuthatch

I also saw a couple of tufted titmice,

and eastern phoebes. The eastern phoebes are a migratory birds and it was good to hear their cheerful songs.

Other signs of Spring were the green garlic mustard ,

and Dame’s rocket leaves ,

and red maple blossoms I saw along the trail.

It was almost a 3 1/2 mile hike back to the Riverview park. I walked on the trail between the Lehigh River and the slopes of the Blue Mountain, with a few waterfalls flowing off of the cliffs.

As I neared the end of my hike I decided to walk back to the ponds on the Three Pond Trail,  I was rewqarded for my decision by  seeing this wood duck on one of the ponds. I love to see, and photograph these very skittish ducks. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hike. Lehigh Gap birds March 30 2025.

I finished  my 7 1/4 mile hike back at the Rivereviwe Park. I was glad I decided to  hike here  and see not only some unexpected bird acivity, but also a close encounter with a bald eagle and  the great views  of the Lehigh Gap. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos from my 7 mile hike near the Lehigh Gap.  Lehigh Gap birds March 30 2025.