Despite Some Rain, A Lot Of Migratory Birds On The Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails In Luzerne County

I decided to hike on the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails near my home in Hazle Township,  Luzerne County early Saturday morning . There was rain in the forecast and  I did not expect to see many  birds or other wildlife activity on my hike. I just wanted to get my usual 5 miles of  hiking in.  I was very wrong about not seeing any wildlife. It turned out to be an amazing birding hike. It was overcast and cool when I arrived at the eastern parking lot and trail head located on the Hazle Brook Road.   The temperature was in the low 50’s.

As soon as I left My Jeep and began my hike on the trail I was greeted by the loud and welcome songs of ovenbirds.  I haven’t heard their  cheerful songs in our woodlands since last August.

These  small warblers are long distance migrants and Winter in Florida and the Caribbean Islands.

Although the oak trees along the trail were still bare and leafless, green new grass grew along the trail and many of the trees already had their first leaves including,

the sweet  birch trees and

the Canadian serviceberry trees.

The high bush blueberry and  the blackberry plants also had their first  leaves providing  more green color to the woodlands along the trail .

These  green colors were  most  welcome after a long and dreary winter of walking in the bare and brown  woodlands.  A  light rain began  falling as I continued on the trail.  I was surprised to  see some other migratory birds active in the cold and wet conditions, including a  few eastern towhees  near the ground,

a black and white warbler,

and this Baltimore oriole in the treetops. I was enjoying hearing their  familiar songs.  I always find it amazing  seeing these birds knowing  that they  spent the Winter in the southern United States, Central and South America.

I walked on the trail to the powerline  right of way that crosses the trail.  Here  I followed  the  right of way through some wet  areas.

Small white violets,

and bog white violets were in bloom here.

I often see both year long resident birds in this area. On Saturday I only saw a couple of field sparrows in the trees along the trail.

I returned to the Rails to Trails path   and followed it  along the border with some abandoned and reclaimed anthracite strip  coal mining areas.   Here there are many large old pitch pine trees along the trail.

 The high bush blueberries,

and the wild strawberries  along the trail had flowers. Spring is passing so quickly and it won’t  be long until there are strawberries and blueberries on the plants.

In the trees along the trail I saw this great crested flycatcher. This  large flycatcher  migrates from south Florida, Central and South America. I see many of these birds on my visits to the Everglades in Winter. It was good to see them back in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The trail leaves the mixed hardwood and pine forest and crosses into a reclamation area.  This area was  once the location of deep underground anthracite coal mines and then a large strip mine. The strip mine was filled in and the land reclaimed.  Many species of trees, including  eastern white pine, sweet and gray birch, black alder, quaking aspen and   black locust trees, were planted in the reclamation area.

They are maturing now and have provided homes for much wildlife including, porcupines, red foxes. white tail deer, black beer and many species of birds.   Many year long resident birds and migratory birds also live here, and in the Spring this area has became great place to observe the migratory birds that are  passing through our area.

I saw a great many on this dreary Saturday morning, in fact,  it was one of the most species of birds I ever saw anywhere.  I heard a wood thrush and followed in to a bank. Below  the bank was the Black or Hazle Creek. 

I didn’t see the wood thrush but I  first saw this Nashville warbler the first I saw on this trail. These birds migrate from Mexico and we are on the southern edge of their breeding territory.

I also saw this female American restart, and,and black throated green warblers, 

yellow rumped warblers. These  migratory birds are common along the trail.

I was surprised  to see a few male Blackburnian  warblers.  I  had only seen these birds in deep forests where they like to remain in the treetops. It was  happy to see one here. They spend there Winters in South America, often on coffee plantations. 

I was even more surprised to see this  Philadelphia vireo. I have only seen few of them on my travels. I am a life long fan of  Philadelphia sports teams I was excited when I saw my first one two years go in Canada. Sadly, it  is just passing through our area to it’s breeding territory in Canada.

I also heard magnolia warblers, Canada warblers and a scarlet  tanager but was only able to capture a poor photo of this hooded warbler.

I could have spent few more hours here. Flocks of different species of birds often migrate together and this was a large flock of many different birds here . However, in addition to my enjoyment of observing and photographing the birds and other wildlife I like to get my exercise  in. I try and hike 7 miles on the weekends, 2 miles,early in the morning near my home, and 5 on my later hikes. So, I decided to move on along the trail.

I  continued on along the trail, but didn’t get very far before I saw more migratory birds. There were dozens of  yellow rumped warblers and chestnut sided warblers feeding on the catkins of the pussy willow, birch and black alder seeds and catkins. I also saw a flock of Cape May warblers. These rarely seen warblers are migrating through our areata their breeding grounds in the spruce fir forest of Canada.

They were flying here from their Winter homes in the Caribbean Islands. It was a wonderful  sight to see a dozen of them fluttering in a  pussy willow tree along the trail.

There was also a flock of another beautiful migratory birds, northern parulas. They do breed in Pennsylvania but I have rarely seen them here. I still remember my first sighting in Key West in Florida. They spend their Winters, in south Florida, the Caribbean Central America.

I also saw a native downy woodpecker along the trail.

It was an amazing morning seeing so many species of migratory birds.   Unfortunately, it started raining harder. I continued on my hike but once the rains started the migratory and other birds were quite.  I believe, unlike me, they took shelter from the rains.  I continued on my hike, leaving the reclamation area,

through some abandoned strip mines.

And  then  through some mixed oak, eastern hemlock and pine woodlands.

I then followed the trail  to the old Ashmore Road.  You can learn about the history of the old railroad right of way the coal mining operation in the area in my previous blogs in the archives of my web-site.

I  ended my hike after hiking about 2 1/2mile near the pine and heath barrens.

The rain stopped but there wasn’t much more bird activity now. I only saw this American robin perched on a tree branch, probably looking for worms  on the wet ground.    Here is link to gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my 5 mile hike. Greater Hazleton Rails to Trail birds May 9 2026.

I walked back in the now light rain, enjoying the contrast between the overcast gray skies and the green new leaves along the trail.

Even the pine trees were sprouting new needles.

I also saw crab-apple,

hawthorn and

serviceberry flowers along the trail.

And the mullein plants and their soft  green leaves were also growing along the trail. Some folks make tea from and smoke the mullein leaves to cure breathing problems.

I was disappointed I didn’t see any more warbler or other migratory birds on my return hike, but I  very happy to have walked on the Greater Hazleton Rails to trails and see so many migratory birds.  Here is link to gallery on my blog website with some more photos from my cold and  rainy  my 5 mile hike. Greater Hazleton Rails to Trail  May 9 2026.

After seeing so many species of birds on the trail I decided to return on Sunday morning.  It was cool but sunny and I hoped to see and photograph the migrating birds in the sunlight. I started my hike on the eastern trail head again.

Leaving my  Jeep I again heard the ovenbirds again,  and this time I was able to photograph a red-eyed vireo singing in the tree tops. These common birds  travel from the Amazon River basin in South America to breed in our forests.

As I continued on the trail I  was surprised to hear and see one of my favorite migratory birds, a male red-breasted grosbeak. These birds also  migrate from Central and South America. 

And I saw one more long distance migratory bird at the start of the trail, a Canada warbler. This bird travels from the Andes Mountains in South  America and passes through our area to breed in the forest to our north.

I walked under the green new leaves in the sunshine looking forward to seeing many more migratory birds in the reclamation area again.

On the way I heard and saw a few black and white warblers, oven birds and a  great crested flycatchers.

I also saw this white tailed deer who was watching me until I got to close and it rain into the woods.

There a few tent caterpillar nests in the trees along the trail. Contray to popular belief, these caterpillars are native and do not destroy the host trees. They are also a good source of food for the migrating birds.

I also saw a few chipping sparrows,and

this noisy  northern  house wren.

As often on my hikes observing  nature,  I was surprised again when I got to the reclamation area. There were no migratory birdsto be seen or heard, not a one. They were gone. I was just very lucky to have seen so many beautiful birds the previous morning.

Disappointed I walked on, as clouds moved in. It was still a pleasant walk listening to  ovenbirds all along the trail.

I crossed the active railroad right of way again,

and here heard and saw this male scarlet tanager  singing in a tree top

and feeding on insects near where I saw one the previous year. It could have been the same one, returning after a Winter spent is South America.

I walked back out to the Ashmore Road,

and along a powerline,

to the pine and heath barrens. I have often seen hawks perched on the powerline but not on this hike.

Once again I had hiked out about 2 1/2 miles and began my hike back. and,  again I enjoyed the contrast of the lush green and and the cloudy skies.

In addition to the field sparrows, ovenbirds and a few black and white warblers I also saw a colorful black throated warbler,

and a male Baltimore oriole.

A  turkey vulture,

and a few American crows flew overhead.  Here is link to gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my 5 mile hike. Greater Hazleton Rails to Trail birds May 10  2026.

I finished my hike, a little disappointed that most of the migratoty birds had gone, but glad to see a few birds, the deer, and the beautiful Spring scenery. The Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails is a great place to hike and enjoy nature and is becoming a great birding trail too.  Check it out. Here is link to gallery on my blog website with some more photos from   my 5 mile hike. Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails May 10 2026

 

Migratory birds connect people, ecosystems, and nations. They are symbols of peace and of an interconnected planet.” — Antonio Guterres

“If you take care of birds, you take care of most of the environment problems in the world.” — Thomas Lovejoy