The Tree Swallows Return, But No Purple Martins Yet, On A Rainy Hike At Leaser Lake In Lehigh County.

A rainy weekend was forecast for the weekend and it was raining hard when I awoke Saturday .  I took my two morning walk in a cold, raw rain near my home in Luzerne County. I didn’t mind since it is Spring and the flowers were blooming, including this hyacinth , and the birds were  singing in the cold rain.

In Spring almost  everyday something new   appears in  the woodlands of  Northeastern Pennsylvania. Plant and flowers are coming back to life, bears , turtles, frogs, snakes and insects are waking up from their Winter sleep and  migratory birds are returning from their Winter homes in the south. It’s a wonderful time of year to be in the woods. The rain ended, for a while, after my walk . So, looking at the radar maps, I decided to drive the 27 miles south to Leaser Lake in Lehigh County. I hoped get my hiking in,  and maybe some photos of  the signs of Spring.  around the lake.

It was cloudy with a cold wind,  the temperature was 49 degrees, but it wasn’t raining when I arrived.  I parked on the lot below the Blue Mountain on the west side of the lake.  I immediately saw signs of Spring, small leaves on the maple trees along the lake,

and dozens of tree swallows darting above the lake and perched on branches along the shore.  These birds returned from their Winter homes in Florida, Cuba and Central America. They will being their migration back in  mid Summer. 

I  began my usual hike on the Lake Loop trail on the southwest side of the lake.  It  takes me to a cove where I often see wood ducks and other water fowl.

There were no ducks on Saturday just a few noisy Canada geese honking in the middle of the lake. The trail took me into a mixed hardwood/ conifer forest

The trail was a little was rocky at first,

and took me over a few small streams.

Christmas ferns and

partridge berries grew along the trail.

The wooded  trail ended at another stream where I crossed a wooden bridge and then climbed some stairs that took me up a ridge

and along  fields on the lake shore.

It started to rain, making it difficult to take photos  as I walked along the shore of the lake.

I heard, and saw northern flickers , tufted titmice and song sparrows but it wasn’t until the rain  let up that I got some photos of the many male

and female red winged blackbirds I saw along the trail.

I also took some photos of the lake and cloud shrouded Blue Mountain.

The trail took me to another cove, this with a wetland where I have seen wood ducks and other water fowl . It was the first day of fishing and there were a few fishermen along the shore and no water fowl.

There were a lot more tree swallows flying over the waters catching flies or perching on the trees  in the wetlands on this rainy morning.

I also saw a few song sparrows  in the shrubs  along the shore.

At the end of the cove or inlet,

I came to the willow trees that were putting forth their first leaves, a welcome sight after a long Winter.

I also heard , then saw,  this brown thrasher singing  loudly in a tree top. .

I followed the trail along the lake,

seeing more red winged blackbirds, tree swallows and fishermen.

The trail took me to the Southern  parking area. Here there are with placards displaying the fish in the lake. Leaser Lake  was built in the 1970’s.  It is owned  by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission  Lehigh County. There is more info on the lake in my previous blog posts that can be found using the search tool.

I now came to the purple martin houses. I love seeing these birds in the Spring. They are a long distance migrant, and migrate to their Winter homes in the Amazon River basin in South America at the end of Summer making them one of our  longest  distance migrants. They are also our largest swallow. 

I was hoping to see them but haven’t returned yet. I walked across the crest of the dam taking in the views of the lake and Blue Mountain under the cloudy skies.

As I followed the trail along the lake shore it took me to  another fork in  the lake, where many white pines trees were planted.

Here I I saw some eastern phoebes, another migrant bird,  and heard the cheerful songs of some Carolina wrens  because of the cloudy and rainy conditions. And the light rainy conditions got worse, right around here a heavy downpour began, and continued as I walked around the lake.

I had to cover  my camera in the heavy rain. I came to the North Parking lot were I saw a steady stream of fishermen entering their cars and leaving the  alike because of the heavy rain.  I took a photo of  monument to  Frederick Leaser the farmer who helped transport  the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown to avoid capture by the British during the Revolutionary War. The lake was named after him and his homestead is nearby. More info about the histogram the lake and Mr.Leaser can be found in the archives in my blog.

The rains continued as I made my way around the lake, ending when I came to the farm fields on the eastern side of the lake.

When the rains stopped there was a flurry of bird activity in the trees along the trail, I heard more brown thrashers, sound sparrows, Carolina wrens , I was able to get photos of the field sparrows,

this red winged blackbird ,

and a yellow rumpled warbler.

A bald eagle and red shouldered hawk flew overhead in the cloudy skies before I could get a photo.

I walked along another cove in the lake not seeing much wildlife or bird activity.

The trail took me into a wetlands along the cove,

where I saw another sign of Spring,

the lurch green skunk cabbages growing along the trail.

The rocky and wet trail

took me to lake shore in the cove where I saw some common mergansers swimming in the lake. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hike. Leaser Lake. birds April 5 2025.

The trail left the wetlands and walked along the shore of the lake l  back to the parking area,

where I saw one last sign of Spring, these beautiful daffodils growing along the road.

I finished my 4 1/2 mile hike. It wasn’t the nicest day but it was Spring and every hike uncovers some of the beauty of Nature waking  up from it’s long, cold and dark Winter sleep.  I love Spring! Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web page with some more photos from my five mile  hike. Leaser Lake.  April 5 2025.

Again the blackbirds sings; the streams Wake, laughing, from their winter dreams, And tremble in the April showers The tassels of the maple flowers.  John Greenleaf Whittier