Migratory Birds, Butterflies, Wildflowers And A Porcupine On The Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails

It was a beautiful April afternoon last Thursday. I decided to take a hike on the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails near my home in Luzerne County. I hoped to see some migratory birds returning to, or passing through,  our area.  Or maybe a snake or  the black bear that  has been seen  along the trail. One of the reasons I  love to hike is you never know what you might see  once you hit the trail.

As usual,  I started  my hike on the eastern trail head on the road to the village of Hazle Brook. I was the only car on the parking lot when I arrived around 2 p.m. It was mostly sunny and a seasonable 60 degrees.   The mostly oak and maple trees  in the woodlands  were still bare and, looking  up toward the canopy of trees,  you would think it  was still January.

However, if you looked closely there were many signs of Spring along the trail. The blackberry bushes,

and the red maple trees had already sprouted their first leaves.

Shadbush service berry  trees already produced their first flowers,

and common violets were blooming along the trail.

As I continued my walk, I heard  the familiar song of an eastern towhee.  These birds are short distance migratory birds and return to our area after spending the Winter in the southern United States.

These birds were very common in the woodlands near my home when I was young and we saw many of them while picking blueberries ( we called them huckleberries) and mushrooms.

I soon saw another sign of Spring, a butterfly. I believe this is a sleepy or banded oak duskywing butterfly.

A utility pole line crosses the trail and I usually follow it since I see a lot of bird activity here. It  meets back up with the trail in about 1/2mile.

On Thursday I saw another migratory bird that returned to our forests, an eastern phoebe. These small flycatchers are also short distance migrants and spend the Winter in the southern United States and northern Mexico. They are one of  the first migratory birds to return in the Spring.

There were more wildflowers blooming along the right of way path including plantain pussy toes and

wild strawberries.

Another butterfly, I believe a cabbage white butterfly, fluttered along the trail.

I left the utility pole line where it  approached  the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails path again and here I saw this seldom seen critter, a North American porcupine.

It  saw me and slowly and awkwardly waddled away.  I  have not seen one on the trail before. It was a welcome treat to someone always looking for the unexpected on my hikes.

I followed the trail through mostly pitch pine woodland,

before walking through culvert where the trail entered  a anthracite coal strip mining reclamation area. There is more information on the history of the coal mining in the area in my previous blog post. They can be found using the search tool on my blog.

The trail took me through the young trees  that were planted when the strip mines were back filled.

The pussy willow,

black alder and,

black cherry  trees were producing buds and young leaves. I usually see a lot of migratory song birds here, indigo buntings, palm warblers, American restarts, and pine warblers. There were none on this hike.   

The trail comes to a  bridge over an active railroad track,

and proceeds through an area of abandoned strip mines.

Here I saw invasive,but pretty coltsfoot flowers in bloom,

and the first fuzzy light green first leaves of common mullein plants.

The trail next passes through an  older mixed oak, maple eastern hemlock and white pine woodland. 

Here I often see hermit thrushes, scarlet tanagers and  oven birds on my Summer hikes. . There were none on this hike, it instill early in the Spring I hope they return this year.  I did see this pretty blue headed vireo singing in the tree tops.

These birds spend the Winter in Florida, Mexico and Central America.

Along the trail here is an abandoned strip mine that filled with water, creating a scenic little lake.  

I had hiked out almost 2 miles when I came to the old access road that led to a Beryllium processing plant that operated from the1950 until the 1980’s.  I often see migratory birds here too, but once again, I didn’t find any on this hike.

I did see  another duskywing butterfly, I think this one is Juvenal’s duskywing,

and this unusual giant bee fly visiting a  cinquefoil flower.

I took a slow walk back in the in the late afternoon sunshine.

I didn’t see any more birds, porcupines, bears or snakes, but it was nice hike. I finished my 4 mile hike, glad I saw some signs of Springs,  a few migratory birds and especially the cute cuddly porcupine. And I am glad I can share them with the followers of my blog. Here is a link to a gallery with some more photos on my blog web site from my hike on Thursday afternoon . Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails  April 23 2026.

The weather  was a lot different  here on Sunday morning. It was overcast, with a raw northeasterly wind and a cold 40 degrees. I decided to stay close to home and hike on the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails again.

This time I drove to the main trail head, parking lot and picnic area located on Route 93 just south of the City of Hazleton.

I walked past the  bear sculptures in the picnic area,

and at the trails entrance 

and began my  hike on the 5 1/2 mile trail that ends on the Hazle Brook Road,where I started my hike on Thursday. I quickly realized I should have worn a warmer coat, hat and gloves.  It was 40 degrees with a strong northwesterly  breeze. It felt more like early March than late April.

I walked past some high bush blueberry  bushes were about to set their first flowers,

and some daffodils planted along the trail. There are a lot more hikers, bikers,  joggers, and dog walkers on this section of the trail. It is still a great place to enjoy  nature but there is a lesser chance to see  a porcupine or other wildlife. I did hear there is a black bear  here   and I hoped to see it on my walk.

The only wildlife I saw here however was a few chipping sparrows.These sparrows   return from their Winter homes along the  Gulf of Mexico.

I continued on the  trail which follows the old Delaware Susquehanna and Schuylkill  (D. S. & S.)  railroad right of way was built in 1890 by Coxe Bros. & Co., operators of mining interests in the region.

The trail  curved around a ridge,and  passes through a pitch pine and white pine woodland.

As on my hike on the other end of the trail on Thursday, most of the oak, maple and other hardwood trees were still bare and leafless. However the many mountian laurel  shrubs along the trail provide some green color to the otherwise wintery scene. The cold temperature and wind added to the Winter-like  feeling of the hike.

After about one mile the trail crosses the Stockton Mountain Road. 

It then continues through the lands of the local Water Authority.

Although it was cold. there were still signs of Spring along the trail.  The high bush,

and low bush blueberries had their first leaves and,

I saw a few more migratory birds that returned to, or are passing through our area. I  firstsaw  a  black and white warbler. These birds migrate to Florida, Central and South America in the Winter. I always enjoy seeing them on my  visits to Florida in the Winter.

I also saw, and heard,  a few yellow-rumped warblers. These warblers are common here in Northeastern Pennsylvania and migrate from the southern United States to Central America.

I hiked  out to the picnic area above the Dreck Creek Reservoir, about 2 1/2 miles from the parking lot.

Here I heard a red breasted nuthatch.  These birds are year long resdients here but are not as common as their cousins,the white breasted nuthatch. Here is a link to a gallery  on my blog web page with some more photos of the porcupine, birds and butterflies I saw on my hikes. Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails  wildlife April 23 -26  2026.

After watching the red breasted nuthatch I began my hike back to the parking lot.   On the way the sun tried to break through the clouds, and did, a few times. However, it remained cloudly and cold for most of my return hike. However, the few break of sun brought some more folks out on the trail. I passed about a dozen hikers,a few folks walking their dog   and a dedicated runner. Here is a link to a gallery with some more photos on my blog web site from my  Sunday morning hike . Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails  April 26 2026.

I fisnished my 5 mile hike. I was cold. It wasn’t the best Spring weather but I still enjoyed being outdoors and seeing the first green  returning to the woodlands and seeing and hearing the first migrating birds of the season. It will only.get better now.  Spring is a magical time of the year. And the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails is  great place to expereince this magic.

“The ghostly winter silence had given way to the great spring murmur of awakening life. This murmur arose from all the land, fraught with the joy of living.”     The Call of the Wild by Jack London