Bald Eagles And Woodpeckers: A Hike Along The Schuylkill, Another One Of Our Historic And Scenic Rivers
Last Sunday I hiked along the Schuylkill River in Landingville in Schuylkill County. It is one of the three great rivers that have their headwaters flow near my home. This wasn’t my original plan for my Sunday hike. I was going to drive to Ricketts Glen State Park in Luzerne County and hike around scenic Lake Jean. I foraged for, and found, mushrooms on previous hikes. However, a cold front arrived in our area. It was windy with temperatures in the low 40’s when I woke up early Sunday morning. Rickets Glen State Park is located atop North Mountain and I knew it would be colder and windier up there. So I looked for places south and read that the Landingville Marsh was one of the best birding areas in Schuylkill County. It was located along the scenic and historic Schuylkill River which flows into the Delaware River in Philadelphia. It is there where William Penn established his colony now known as our Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
So early Sunday morning I was off to the Landingville Marsh, located about 30 miles south of my home in Luzerne County. My AllTrails app directed me to the Bartram Trail, located a mile outside of Landingville on Meadow Drive. There was no parking lot at the trail head but a few cars were parked along the road, so I parked there and began my hike.
The trail began on the western slope of a ridge so there was no early morning sun on the cool morning. The trail took me through a hardwood woodland that followed the Schuylkill River, although the you couldn’t see the river at the beginning of the trail.
There were many large and ancient oak and sycamore trees along the wide and well maintained trail.
It was a quiet and tranquil walk. I felt I was going back in time. I came to a residence along the trail , which only access was the trail right of way. I envied the folks who lived in the secluded area along the river.
Here I saw the Schuylkill River for the first time. It’s waters did not look very clean. The Schuylkill River flows 135 miles from it’s eastern source the Little Schuylkill. The Little Schuylkill has a few small streams as it’s headwaters, one being Locust Creek flowing from Lake Tuscarora and another originating near McAdoo, the town I was born in a long time ago. The western branch of the Schuylkill begins near Minersville and joins the Little Schuylkill River near Port Clinton. Other streams and creeks swell the river until in widens as it flows through the city of Philadelphia and into the Delaware River and then the Delaware Bay . Like our Susquehanna and Lehigh Rivers, there is a lot of history along it’s banks. Here before the Europeans took their land the Native Americans, the Lenape or Delaware tribes, lived along this scenic rand pristine river. 
The woodlands along the trail were beautiful. I didn’t see any birds or other wildlife. After almost about a mile, I walked beyond the ridge and saw the early morning sun rising in the east.
The sunshine seemed to have awakened the birds, and I soon saw, and heard, the first of many Carolina wrens singing their cheerful songs.
Soon gray catbirds, and
Americans robins,
common yellow throats and
song sparrows joined them in greeting the sun with their songs. Most of the migratory song birds have left our area but I am sure this will be a great place to find them in the Spring and Summer. 
It seemed this one area of the trail was a bird hot spot since, as I continued my hike I didn’t see much bird activity , for a while, except for the many Carolina wrens I heard all along my five mile hike. I soon came to a bridge that crossed the river on Canal Street. Here the waters of the Schuylkill looked much cleaner, and I heard the chattering of belted kingfisher, a sure sign there are fish living in it’s waters. The river was once very polluted but efforts were made to clean it up, and they are working.
The late Summer sun warmed the cool morning air. I continued my walk along the trail seeing some late Summer wildflowers in bloom including, wild wood asters, 
ironweed, 
woodland sunflowers, and 
Canada goldenrod flowers, all native to Pennsylvania. 
A few marginal wood ferns also grew along the trail. 
After about a mile or so I came to the Tunnel Road Trailhead parking lot, but their wasn’t a motor vehicle parked there yet. I had only seen one gentleman walking his dog on the trail. I wasn’t complaining, I enjoyed the solitude. 
I next came to another ridge with some large boulders .
and learned this was the site of the Schuylkill Canal and the first transportation tunnel, known as the Auburn Tunnel, in the United States in the early 1800’s.
The roof of the tunnel was was opened in 1857. 
Near the remains of the tunnel I saw and heard a small flock of tufted titmice and
this male northern cardinal..
I was anxiously hoping to arrive at the Landingville Marsh when the trail ended near an active railroad track. 
I followed a road to what appeared to be a quarry and which I later learned was posted private property. Here I saw a bald eagle soar overhead. 
It is always a great hike when I see one of the majestic birds flying in our skies.
I also saw a downy woodpecker, 
an eastern phoebe and,
a few more Carolina wrens here.
I walked out onto the Tunnel road and followed it along the old Schuylkill Canal. 
Here in the large oak, maple and sycamore trees, I saw a family of pileated woodpeckers ,
flying from tree to tree. I love seeing these beautiful birds on my hikes. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hike. Landingville hike birds September 8 2024. 
I now realized I was on the wrong trail to find the marsh so I began my 2 1/2 mile hike back to my Jeep. 
It was a beautiful morning and I saw more wildflowers blooming including native common evening primrose,
and American burnweed flowers. 
I also saw a beautiful red spotted purple butterfly ,
and monarch butterfly. It is sad but the monarch butterfly is endangered due to lose of habitat. 
I walked back along the trail and learned the Landingville Marsh trail was in the town of Auburn on the other side of the Schuylkill River. On my hike back I saw a few of the same birds I saw earlier and a lot more people hiking, biking , running and walking their dogs on the trail. The Tunnel Road parking lot was not filled with cars. 
I was disappointed I didn’t find the marsh but seeing the historic Schuylkill River, the pileated woodpeckers, and a bald eagle were ample reward for a visit to Schuylkill County or the “Skook” , the county where I was born. I hope to return and continue to explore the Schuylkill River on it’s journey to the Delaware River and the Delaware Bay. And to share it’s scenic beauty and the plants and animals that live along it’s banks. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hike. Landingville hike September 8 2024. 
After the Great Spirit and creator of all, “He-Who-Creates-Us-By-Thought,” brought the world into being, there came a time very long ago when the animals were living in deep water with no dry land. They grew weary of being wet and wanted to find a way to bring up the mud from under the water. From the greatest to the least, each one dove under the water. One by one they tried to dive deep enough to bring up some of the mud. And, one by one, they failed, being unable to dive so deep and so long. It seemed as though none could bring up the mud from the bottom. All came back to the surface, gasping for air. It seemed an impossible task, for none was willing to risk their life to bring up the mud. Finally, after all the others had tried and failed, humble Muskrat took his turn. Muskrat dove deep and was under the water for a very long, long time. The other animals feared that Muskrat had drowned, for he stayed below the water much longer than any of them had. When Muskrat finally came back up to the surface, he was exhausted and close to death. The animals saw that there was a clump of mud scraped from the bottom in Muskrat’s paw. Humble Muskrat had risked his life to dive deeper than any of them had in order to bring the mud up from the bottom. “He-Who-Creates-Us-By-Thought” summoned Turtle to the surface of the water and placed the mud from Muskrat’s paw upon the back of Turtle. “He-Who-Creates-Us-By-Thought” caused the mud to grow, covering Turtle’s back. As Turtle continued to raise his back, more water drained off and the mud that grew and grew became dry, becoming the land. And the animals had dry land to live upon. One day, in the middle of the land upon Turtle’s back, there grew a tree. From that tree grew a shoot. And, from that shoot sprouted a man. The Man would have been all alone, but then the tree grew another shoot. And, from that shoot sprouted a woman. This was the first man and the first woman. They are the ancestors of us all. Lenape or Delaware Creation Story.
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