Back In Philadelphia: A Sunny Afternoon Hike At John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge
After seeing so many different species of birds on my visit to the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia two weeks ago, I decided to return last weekend. I was hoping to see some more of the birds and beautiful scenery in the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania. The refuge is actually located in both the city of Philadelphia and Tinicum Township. 
I arrived at the Visitor Center in the refuge around 3 p.m. It was a partly sunny and cool afternoon on the last day in February. Last time I was here much of the impoundment pond was frozen and there was no signs of Spring on my five mile hike I was hoping, being 100 miles south of my home in Luzerne County I would also see some signs of the approaching Spring. The trees were still bare, and the vegetation brown and withered as I began my hike.
However, there was no ice on the impoundment pond. I was a little disappointed not hearing or seeing any birds in the trees along the trails. On my last visit I was hearing and seeing flocks of song swamp and white throated sparrows mourning doves woodpeckers and even a brown creeper. There were no birds but this time there were a lot of people walking their dogs strolling or running on the Wetland Trail that loops around the impoundment pond. 
Darby Creek, which creates the fresh water tidal marsh was much higher than my last visit. The many mallards and common mergansers weren’t around on this beautiful afternoon.
There is a boardwalk that crosses the impoundment pond.
Last time I was here I saw large flocks of Canada geese on the ice. This time I finally saw some water fowl a flock of northern shovelers, this is a male,
and this a female,
and a few bufflehead ducks. 
The refuge borders the Philadelphia International Airport,
and Interstate 95 so it is not a quiet hike. The roar of jets, and constant sound of traffic, could be heard while hiking on the trails in the refuge. Many jet airplanes soared overhead on my hike. 
As I continued on my walk I finally saw some green, and a sign of Spring, lesser celandine or fig-crowfoot was growing along the trail. This plant produces yellow flowers in the Spring but it invasive and is a threat to native wildflowers and plants. 
The trail continues along the impoundment pound 
with many large trees mostly white ash and silver maple now growing near the pond.
I saw a few more flocks of northern shovelers, 
a couple of mute swans 
and mallard ducks on the pond. 
And I now saw a few downy woodpeckers, 
a flock of white throated sparrows 
and a few rusty blackbirds in the trees along the trail. 
After about 1 1/2 miles out on the trail I came to another boardwalk which took me into the tidal marsh created by Darby Creek. 
It was high tide and the mud I saw on my last hike was covered in water. 
There were no water fowl on the waters but I did see a few song sparrows in the reeds. 
I walked back to the Wetland Loop Trail and in a short distance followed the Tinicum Marsh Trail into the marsh. 
Here, along the Darby Creek , I was surprised to see a mink along banks of the creek,
before it swam to the other side and disappeared into into the reeds along the banks of the stream. 
The sun was now getting low in the sky making creating some interesting shilloutes with the bare trees along the trail. 
The trail looped back to the Wetland Loop Trail and along the impoundment pond. 
Here I saw a few more flocks of northern shoveler ducks,
and also a few ring necked ducks.
There were many old trees along the trails here,
and I saw a few mourning doves in the trees. 
I also was seeing a lot of red winged blackbirds in the reeds in the wetlands near the pond. 
They were all males and were singing their harsh songs and calls to mark off their breeding territory, and 
displaying their colorful red wing patches.
The trail took me close to Interstate
95 and the loud sounds of rush hour traffic before,
looping back through some older woodlands. 
The sun was now low in the southwest and shadows grew in the forest. There were still a lot of folks walking and biking on the trail on this late Friday afternoon. 
I saw a few golden crowned kinglets, the last birds I would see on my five mile hike. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my five mile hike in the refugee. Philadelphia John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge February 28 2025. 
I continued my hike through the woodland as the sun was setting in the western sky..It is a nice time to be in the woods.
As I neared the end of my hike I walked back down to the pond on the Boardwalk Trail, and watched the setting sun over the water.. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my five mile hike in the refugee. Philadelphia John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge February 28 2025.
I finished my five mile hike and I was hungry. I was in southern Philadelphia, near the airport and there weren’t a lot of restaurants to choose from, except a lot of fast food restaurants. I found a Vietnamese Pho restaurant on Google maps a few miles from my hotel and decided to give it a try. It was the Philly Pho restaurant and it was a great decision. I had a shrimp summer roll to start. I never had one before. It was recommended by the young waiter and it was delicious.
The shrimp Pho soup was just as good. I loved this friendly neighborhood restaurant and hope to return.
It was dark when I left the restaurant and drove back to my hotel , the Hilton Embassy Suites near the airport. I edited some photos before falling asleep looking forward to another hike in the John Heinz National Refuge in the morning.
Fortunately, nature is amazingly resilient: places we have destroyed, given time and help, can once again support life, and endangered species can be given a second chance. And there is a growing number of people, especially young people, who are aware of these problems and are fighting for the survival of our only home, planet Earth. We must all join that fight before it is too late.” – Jane Goodall
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