Eagles and Owls and Orioles, OH MY!

  

 Literally in the shadows of one of this country's largest cities lies it's last marshland. The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum is wedged between the city and it's airport. It is an important migratory stop over for birds as well as precious breeding grounds. Right now, the refuge is not only hosting Bald Eagles (today I saw an immature one up close.....crippling good look at my friends across the pond would say, but nest Great Horned Owl. Quite a few people got terrific views of the branched owlet just posing for the birders
who were there. I set up my scope and let passers by take a gander at what may have been there first look at a Great Horned Owl.

   Birding is one of the things I have always defined myself by. Yet it has somehow gotten away from me. A lot of  it has to do with the fact that for over a decade it REALLY defined me. I was "the bird man". I owned a backyard bird feeding shop, led bird walks from the store, volunteered for Audubon, wrote a couple books, a couple national articles, taught school classes and scout troops. Even entered three World Series of Birding and the team accounted itself well. All my friends were birders and/or naturalists of some kind, and I felt as if I had found my niche in the world. Turns out I was a pretty good birder and taught about it pretty well, too. Then, I was hit by a perfect storm. In a span of a few months, the Black Oil Sunflower seed crop in this country failed and a Wal-Mart (read Death Star) opened up about a mile away. It didn't take long for rising seed costs and what I considered unfair competition to derail 10 years of dedication and hard work. There are other subsequent chapters to that tale that I will spare you....needless to say "catching on" in the bird world was not an easy thing to do, nor an easy way to make a living.

   Since then, my birding has been sporadic, still doing it, but, not every free moment. I took up kayaking, which rapidly became another passion of mine. I also found that I could combine the two and see some birds normally seen at the limit of conjecture up close and personal. I drifted more and more towards paddling, as birding was tied to such a sense of loss. When I had to close my store, I literally had to take a hammer and destroy all that I had built and throw it in a dumpster. Take that, psyche.

   So, with that in mind, you may understand why I don't jump in the car and just go bird as much. Sometimes it just gets the better of me. But, not today. I had been fighting a sore throat/cold for the past week, and it's a 3 day weekend with flawless weather. I was up early enough to get out and see what I could find, so, off I went in search of a game of feathered Hide and Seek. I had not gone 10 yards past the entrance gate when perched in the top of a willow was a male Baltimore Oriole in all his fluorescent orange. Let me digress a moment about Baltimore Orioles (and some of their cousins, too)......How does this bird HIDE? You hear their crystal clear, loud whistle and you scour the tree tops for a hint of orange. But more times than not, all you get is that whistle that can be heard for what seems like miles. And, yes he really is THAT orange. And, he's not a small bird by any stretch of the imagination. Orioles are about the size of an American Robin, and is actually a member of the Blackbird family. But, when you get your binoculars (or if your really luck, your scope) on this bird, no one can help but gasp a bit. I have seen many, many Baltimore Orioles, but, I never tire of watching them.

   I've stopped "listing" the birds I see on walks as it seemed to get redundant after a while. Todays feathered findings were lots of Yellow Warblers, Tree Swallows by the score, Barn Swallows, Gray Catbirds, American Robins, Orchard Oriole (a less spectacularly orange cousin of the Baltimore), Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Great Egrets (in their breeding finery), Marsh Wren, Carolina Wren, Mallards, Song Sparrow, Carolina Chickadee along with the Bald Eagle, Great Horned Owl and Baltimore Oriole. I'm sure I'm leaving some out, but, it was nice to walk the circuit at Tinicum again.

   On the topic of Tinicum, as I stated earlier it is a National Wildlife Refuge with city limits of Philadelphia. There is no entrance fee as there is at NWR's like Bombay Hook or Forsythe, which means it's free to the public. Now this may sound like a good thing. Free usually is. But, sadly, not in this case. The refuge is open to fishing (why anyone would fish Darby Creek is beyond me), mountain bikers and people with their pets. This refuge has also suffered myriad indignations such as massive oil spills underneath it, airport expansion (which, in fairness, was replaced by another tract of the refuge) and the never ending noise pollution created by the airport, I-95 and an occasional freight train. Doesn't sound like much of a refuge does it? The way I read the term "Wildlife Refuge", I see that it means a refuge for wildlife. Not a public dog walk (by the way, I love dogs, have two....just don't bring them to the refuge), not a bicycle trail, I've almost been run over several times by careening bikes. And, last I checked, 'harvesting' the wildlife (fish) isn't offering them refuge, even if it's catch and release. Today I had the unfortunate circumstance to come across a couple with two small dogs that were completely out of control. Barking uncontrollably and acting aggressive to anyone who dared walk by. And, me being me, had to say something about them scaring every bird for hundreds of yards scurrying for cover, where the owner decided I was wrong to say anything about his out of control "dogs". Turns out he was as aggressive and out of control as the dogs. I was subjected a barrage of expletives that was just plain foul. I don't take that kind of verbal abuse well and it took an awful lot of self control from throwing all of them into the water and letting the Snapping Turtles have at them. I'm sorry if people don't like being called on being selfish and rude, but, how about a little personal responsibility??? Myself? I'd like JHNWR@T become a REAL National Wildlife Refuge, I'd happily pay the admission and have them ban the pets, the fishing and the bikes. Also, isn't there the possibility that domestic animals may bring disease into the refuge that the residents are vulnerable to?

A wildlife refuge is for the wildlife, this refuge has suffered enough in my eyes, it is time to treat it like a real NWR and not a city park.