Birds, Flowers And Green Everywhere , A Magical May Morning At The Susquehanna Wetlands.

I missed another weekend in May at the Susquehanna Wetlands. I spent a weekend looking for migratory songbirds in Cape May , New Jersey. It was a nice trip but, Spring, and May, are magical in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I like to spend as much time as I can in our woodlands this time of year. I returned to the wetlands early Saturday morning. It was partly cloudy when I arrived and parked at the ponds near the access road. The trees in woodlands around the lake were now all covered in lush new green leaves. It really is a magical time of year, even on a cloudy day.

There were no water fowl on the ponds so I waked to the access road  and found the gate was finally open. It was closed all Winter. I decided to walk to the parking lot  anyway since I often see birds along the access road.

And I did on Saturday, I was greeted by the soft song  of a blue gray gnat catcher. I love this small and feisty bird,

northern cardinals, Carolina wrens  and this song sparrow added to the birds singing in the woodlands.

I also  saw a few cottontail rabbits feeding on the new lush grass.

So many plants had appeared since my last visit including  the  sensitive ferns.

The blackberry brambles were flowering,

as were the many Dame’s rocket plants, adding color to the green landscape.

I continued on the access rode and saw a few black capped chickadees,

and this female American redstart in the trees along the trail.

I walked to the parking lot and down to the Susquehanna River. It was  running high and fast from all of the rain.  The ancient oak, sycamore and maple  trees along the banks were now covered in leaves. 

I walked up the the trail head to the wetlands and meet a few folks also looking for birds and the beauty of nature. We had a nice chat before I walked into the wetland.

As I walked under the   canopy of green,

the sun broke through the clouds adding to the beauty of this already magical May morning.

In addition to the trees the ground of the trail was strewn with green.  The lush green skunk cabbages, and

 the cinnamon ferns  were illuminated by the early morning sunshine.

More Dame’s rocket and these daisy  fleabane flowers bloomed along the trail. 

I walked to the Water Fowl pond and didn’t see any water fowl,

but I saw a few cedar waxwings,

eastern bluebirds  and,

this tree swallow perched on a tree along the ponds.

I left the Water Fowl pond nd walked along the on the trail toward the river lands area of the private nature preserve,

seeing a few painted turtles enjoying the sunshine. There are not as many turtles on the logs in the ponds since the waters have warmed and the turtles don’t need to warm up in the sun.

Black locust flowers now were in bloom,

 as where the  blue flag,

Philadelphia fleabane

and wild geranium flowers, all native to Pennsylvania. 

I also found a few mushrooms growing along the trail, I believe  this is a  platterful mushroom

and this a  brittle stem mushroom.   I thought there would be more  mushrooms growing after all of the rains we had.

As I walked through the wetlands I saw a few red winged blackbirds, this is a male, , and,

a couple of green herons, one in the reeds,

and this some perched on a log.

I left the wetlands and walked  into the river lands and along Lake Took-A-While.    Fair weather clouds formed  making for a scenic walk along  the lake.

I was hoping to see a bald eagle near the lake, as I often do, or a hawk or osprey but there were none.. I did see a few turkey vulures soaring overhead,.

There were a lot of Canada  geese  on the lake, and, including these  parents,swimming on the lake,

with their newly born goslings.

I also saw a few yellow warblers,

a warbling vireo,

a few gray catbirds,

an eastern phobe

and this colorful female Baltimore oriole.  The songs of these birds added to the magic of this May morning. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos of the birds I saw on my 5 mile hike. Susquehanna Wetlands birds May 17 2025.

More clouds  blew in on a strong northwesterly breeze  as I began my hike back to the wetlands.

The   lush  new green leaves contrasted with the clouds and created a differnt, but still magical look and feeling.

I saw some of the same birds I had seen earlier on my hike but not as many.  It was now past noon as I was nearing the end of my 4 hour and  5 mile hike.  Early    morning is wne the birds are most active.  I enjoyed the beautiful May morning. The magic of Spring is so fleeting. I want to experience as much of it s I can. And to share some of the beauty I find here on my blog. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos from  my 5 mile hike. Susquehanna Wetlands May 17 2025.

“There is a sweetness of May verging on June that no other time in the whole year can equal. And by sweetness is meant more than flower fragrance or honey taste; this is the greater sweetness of understanding and emotion, the glow of pleasure in being.” ~Hal Borland