Wildflowers And A Lot Of Birds:, A Couple Of Nature Hikes On The Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails.

After my recent visit to Concord Massachusetts, and walking the woods where   Thoreau and Emerson wrote about their love of nature I decided to stay close to home  and hike our local Rails to Trails.  I wanted  share some of the beauty of nature I found.  As usual I like to hike on the more remote eastern end  of the trail. The parking lot and trail head is located on the Hazle Brook  road in Foster Township.

It was cloudy and cool  May afternoon when I arrived at the trail around 2 p.m. I wasn’t expecting to see much wildlife or bird activity but one of the birds I thought I would hear and see, the ovenbird, I did. This warbler greeted me with it’s  cheerful song as I began my hike.  This migratory bird breeds in eastern North America and winters in Central America, many Caribbean islands, Florida and northern Venezuela.  It is one of the few birds that sing in the middle of the day, on even the  hottest days of Summer.

The trail continues through an older  second growth woodland of mostly oak and maple trees for about the first 1/2 mile.  It was now a pleasure walking under a canopy of lush, green  leaves instead of the bare and brown trees  along the trail in the Winter.

Blooming along the trail were some native wildflowers including bog white violets and,

common cinquefoil .

Christmas  ferns,

and common milkweed also grew along the trail.

As I walked through the lush green woodlands I heard, and saw this bird an eastern phoebe. Their song is unmistakable  and sounds like they are pronouncing their name.  It migrates to the southernmost United States and Central America in late Summer  and is one of the earliest migratory birds to return in the Spring. .

Nearby another migratory bird, a black and white warbler, sang in a tree top. Some of these common warblers migrate to  Florida and Baja California; others go as far as northern South America.

Instead of following the trail, I took my usual detour along a utility power line right of way.   It passes through some wetlands and I often see some bird activity here.

There was no birds active in the mid afternoon but I saw some more wildflowers blooming along the trail. Yellow star grass,

and slender yellow woodsorrel, both native to Pennsylvania.

The pole line right of way  meets back up with a loop on the Rails to Trail  Here  the second growth wood land ends at  an abandoned and reclaimed anthracite coal mining lands. Large pitch pine trees grew on the trail here.

And under the pitch pines I found  two of my favorite Spring flowers blooming, the pink azaleas,

and lady slipper orchids. My dad called them  “honeysuckles” and “duck flowers” and would take me and my siblings in the woods every Spring in search of these beautiful native flowers. Wonderful  memories they evoke. My dad instilled in me,  from a very young age,  a deep love of nature.

The trail continued under an active anthracite coal mining haul road before entering a large strip mined reclamation area. I have more information of the abandoned coal mine history in my previous blogs.  They can be found using the research tool on my blog site.  The young  birch, pine popular, black locust and alder trees are becoming a great habitat for migrating and year long resident birds.

I didn’t see any bird activity on this hike but I did see some more wildflowers in blooming in this more open woodland, including native  Philadelphia fleabane,

and  invasive field mustard.   

I also saw the first oxeye daisies of the year. I  always loved this invasive but pretty flower so common in our area now.

I also saw some  eastern bumblebees  visiting invasive white clover plants.

I walked through the reclamation area the black  locust trees  finally have their first leaves.

The black locust and  oak trees are the last trees to produce their first leaves.

I walked on the bridge over an active railroad right of way,

through some more abandoned strip mines,

and into another second growth woodland.

In these woods I saw a pine warbler,  these birds migrate from  their Winter residence in the Southern United States,

and a black throated green warbler,  another migratory bird of the deep woodlands. They are rarely seen in  back yards at feeders. They  travel to Central America in the late Summer.

As I watched these birds  I heard the piercing cries of a red-tailed hawk soaring overhead.  Some of these birds remain year round in Pennsylvania but other migrate to our area and further south from their breeding grounds further north.

After seeing the hawk, I, again,  found some wildflowers growing in these woodlands,  including  American blue-eyed grass,

star flowers,

 Canada May flowers,

wild strawberries.

and high bush blueberries, all native to Pennsylvania.

The trail now took me to the abandoned Ashmore Road and then,

into the pine and heath barrens. Again there  is more information on these areas in my previous blogs.  This blog is more about identifying the plants and birds that live along the trail.

I had walked out over 2 1/2 mile and decided to end my hike and head back. It was a quiet hike. There was not much bird activity. The only new bird I saw were a few chipping sparrows. These sparrows also migrate to Florida and Mexico. I was surprised to not see a single year long resident bird,except for the red tailed hawk,  on my 5 mile hike.

I ended my hike seeing only one  other person walking her dogs on the trail.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web-site with some more photos from my afternoon  hike.  Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails May 22 2026.

It rained on Saturday and Sunday morning and I only walked in the neighborhood near my home. It also rained early Monday morning canceling the West Hazle Memorial Day Parade which I have participated in  since I was elected  and served as Mayor of West Hazleton in 1990to 1994.  Instead of a parade,  a Memorial Service was held indoors  honoring the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. After the ceremony the skies cleared and I decided to return to the eastern section of the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trail, where I hiked on Friday,  for a late morning hike. It was now partly sunny as I began my hike.

I heard the  northern phobe and ovenbird again and heard and saw another small flycatcher that is often mistake for a phobe, an eastern wood pee wee. Like it’s cousin, the phobe, it also sings a song that sounds like it’s name. Unlike the eastern phobe this long distant migrant is one of the last birds to return in the Spring, flying all the way from South America where it spends the Winter.

I followed the same trail as my Friday hike so I will only share photos of some of the different plants and birds I saw, one of them being this interesting oak apple gall created by a wasp,

I also found these rain covered tulip tree on the trail. I didn’t knew these trees grew here.

I walked on the pole line right of way again and here I saw this eastern towhee, a short distance migrant to the southern United States, I often see them on my visits to the Florida Everglades,

and another beautiful black and white warbler.

I continued through the grove of pitch pines,  walked under the haul road,

and into the  strip mining  reclamation area.

Here, in the young trees I saw this beautiful male indigo bunting.  These long distance migrants travel at night to and from their Winter homes in south Florida, the Carribean, Central  and South America.

Once again I crossed the bridge,over an active railroad track,

through some more abandoned strip mining areas, and another second growth woodland.

Here, I saw this red- eyed vireo. This is one of our most  common migratory birds, and it is along distance migrant, flying to the Amazon River basin in South America in the late Summer.

There were, finally , some birds that remaining our forest throughout the year, a flock of black-capped chickadees were feeding in the trees along the trail.  I often see these birds very active on the coldest day in Winter.

I continued on my hike to the abandoned Ashmore road,

here, as I often do, I saw a few migratory birds along the road, first I saw a pair of great crested flycatchers. I see these large flycatchers  here every Spring. I believe they are attracted to the utility lines where they perch and search for flying insects. I  often see them perched on  utility lines  on my visits to Florida. They are long distance migrants flying to Central and South America for the Winter.

There were two more colorful migratory birds in the woods along the trail, a prairie warbler, these birds  live in second growth forests and migrate to the Caribbean  in the Winter,

and a chestnut sided warbler, another migratory bird that lives in second growth forest in our area but migrates to coffee plantations in Central and South America in the Winter.

Once again I ended my hike at the pine and heath  barrens, about 2 1/2 miles from the parking lot.

It was a pleasant hike back in the afternoon sunshine.

On the way I  saw a few more birds, a turkey vulture, soaring in the skies over the trail.  These birds are short distance migrants. Pennsylvania is just above their northern year round range.

I also saw this northern house wren perched on a pine tree,

and few common yellow throats. Both of these birds are short distance migrants leaving our area in late Summer to spend the Winter in the southern United States and Mexico. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web-site with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hikes.  Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails May 22-25  2026.

I finished my 5 mile hike in the mid afternoon sunshine.  It was another great hike  on this great trail only a few miles from my house. Once again I was able to see and share the beauty of nature and to show you don’t have to travel far to find it. The Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails is a wonderful asset to our area and our Commonwealth. Make a visit, you won’t regret it if you also love nature. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web-site with some more photos from my morning   hike.  Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails May 25 2026.

“Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson