Birds, Butterflies And Bees On A Mid Summer Hike In The Susquehanna Wetlands.

I was back in the Susquehanna Wetlands on Sunday. I enjoyed my Saturday return visit to Hickory Run State Park, one of 5 State Parks near my home in Luzerne. County.  There are so many great trails to explore in these parks.   However,  I like hiking the familiarity I have in the wetlands.   I enjoy watching  the changing seasons  and the effects on  the flora and fauna in this unique habitat.  I arrived under partly sunny skies and mild temperatures early  on Sunday.  As usual, I first stopped at the Water Fowl Ponds near the entrance to the access road.  The  wood ducks I have seen on the ponds weren’t there. I believe the young fledglings have learned to fly and the adult females have finished their molts.  I had a feeling the would still be somewhere in the wetlands.

Sometimes, I would see a hawk, a turkey vulture, a heron or even a bald eagle perched on top branches of some dead trees along the ponds. On Sunday the only bird perched on a branch was this American robin.

On my hike the previous week I didn’t see the many song birds I encounter in the Spring and early Summer. This week I did see  this red-eyed vireo and

this American redstart in the trees near the pond.

I drove into the wetlands and took my usual walk down to the ancient Susquehanna River. The river was at it’s lowest in about a year from the lack of rain.

However, their was enough rain to keep the wetlands lush and green as I walked under the canopy of the large oak, maple and sycamore trees.

Like the previous week there was not much bird activity in the wetlands. The songs of the yellow warblers, song sparrows, swamp sparrows and especially the red-wing blackbirds were absent. I did see a few wood ducks on the canals but they flew off before i could get a photos. The only bird I saw, and heard, was this male northern cardinal perched high on a tree top.

I walked along the canal in the wetlands,

then toward the Water Fowl Pond. There were not many wildflowers blooming in mid Summer but the the many species of goldenrod began to bloom. I believe this is Canada goldenrod,

and this giant goldenrod.

I saw this, I believe, Appalachian brown butterfly near the goldenrod flowers.

Pretty great blue lobelia flowers also bloomed along the trail.  These late Summer flowers are all native to Pennsylvania.

There were no wood ducks or herons on the Water Fowl Pond and no birds in the trees along pond either.  However there  were cicadas.  The skies had cleared and they were singing loudly in the early morning sunshine.

I walked toward the river lands and along the canal. I noticed the hay-scented ferns along the trail were already  beginning to change to their yellow fall color,

and most of the once green bracken ferns had already withered  and turned brown.

These were sure signs Summer and the growing season were coming to it’s end.

There was little bird activity I saw a  few wood ducks but they quickly flew off as I approached. I ws able to watch this downy woodpecker feeding on some sort of insects on some plants along the trail.

I walked to the new trial that was recently cut along the canal,

and then folowed it  through the  old fields in the middle of the wetlands.

I hoped to see some insects and butterflies here visiting the  goldenrod  and cutleaf teasel flowers blooming here,

and I did, I first saw this wild  Indigo duskywing  butterfly ,

dozens of silver spotted skippers,

this,  I believe tawny emperor butterfly,

and this one monarch butterfly.

There were also many bees visiting the cutleaf teasel flowers. and

, a few dragonflies, including this eastern pondhawk  were also darting about the matters, occasionally resting on a leaf or stem. I could have spent hours watching the insects along this new trail but had to finish my hike.

I walked back toward the river lands, seeing some delicate mushrooms growing on the trail.

I also  saw this Carolina wren

and then a pair of pileated woodpeckers feeding in the upper branches of some trees along the trail.

I love seeing our largest woodpecker in the treetops.

Cutleaf cone flowers were now blooming along the trail,

and I saw this eastern cottontail rabbit

and a banded tussock moth caterpillar crawling on a plant.  I love just walking  with my eyes peeled and observing the som many beautiful plants and animals in the wetlands. There is always something to see here, in the warm months anyway.

Before entering the river lands area of the small nature preserve, I walked on the access road to a facility that is part of the nearby nuclear power plant. There is a marsh along the road I often see birds, and wood duck., especially in late Summer. And, sitting on a log I saw  three female wood ducks,

that, for once, didn’t fly off as I approached. allowing me to get these photos,

of these beautiful birds.

I walked into the wetlands, and along Lake Took-A-While. There were only a couple of fishermen along the lake on Sunday morning,

and this great blue heron wading along the shorter,

flying off as I approached.

I walked along the lake, seeing  the  invasive purple loosestrife flowers,

and native American groundnut flower blooming along the lake shore.

The swarms of cicada killer wasps were gone now, and I saw these bull thistle flowers that have gone to seed, both signs of the approaching end of Summer.

There were a lot of dragonflies darting over the lake including this blue dasher.

 As always I hoped to see a hawk, eagle or osprey over the lake but there was little bird activity on this hike.

I didn’t walk to the end of the lake this time since I walked on the new trail cut in the meadow, Instead I started my hike back on a bridge over the canal along the lake.

There is a trail on the other side of the canal with a picnic ara, playground and some rest room facilities.

I walked back along the lake,

and into the wetlands. enjoying the loud singing of the cicadas in the wetlands.

I saw a few more wood ducks,   most flying off before I can get any photos, except for this one.

I also saw this eastern phoebe darting for insects over the canal.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my 5 mile hike. Susquehanna Wetlands birds August 16 2025.

I listened to loud sounds of the cicadas as I finished my 5 mile hike. I know I have walked these same path hundreds of times now but I always see something new or in a new way. I love  all of the trails I hike here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, there is so much see, from bees to bears, mushrooms to minks or snakes to song birds. It’s a beautiful planet we are blessed to live on. I love this small wonderful little part of it. We all must work harder to protect these wetlands and all of the wilderness that remains. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos  from my 5 mile hike. Susquehanna Wetlands August 16 2025.

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
― Albert Einstein