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DVOC Main Page > Birding the Delaware Valley Region > Monthly Birding

GOING BIRDING?
A monthly guide of where to go birding in the Delaware Valley Birding Region
(What is the "Delaware Valley Region?")

Image© A Binns

We are blessed to have so many outstanding locations within a 90 mile radius or two hour drive of Philadelphia – this area being loosely known as the Delaware Valley. Immediately, National Wildlife Refuges sites such as Edwin Forsythe aka Brigantine, Bombay Hook and John Heinz aka Tinicum come to mind, not to mention the whole Cape May area; numerous forests, preserves, state and county parks; reservoirs, rivers, bays and coastal marshes and sandy beaches; hawk and sea watches; nature centers and nature parks along with a plethora of other smaller patches that are highly desirable birding spots.

This BIRDING BY MONTH section provides suggestions on particular birding location during certain months, should you want to go out birding or to look for a certain target species. While a number of these sites could be birded with success at almost any time of year, we have made an effort not to repeat ourselves too often and in certain cases just mentioned what a particular location has to offer at that time of year.

As a generalization:

• waterfowl are best seen from October through March as they spend the winters in a more southern location;
• geese from November through March;
• sparrows from October through April when they tend to congregate in larger numbers in weedy fields;
• warblers and passerines from mid April through June during spring migration with the peak being in the first 3 weeks of May, and again in September and October as they head south;
• thrushes in May as they pass through on passage to breed in more northerly locations;
• raptors from mid September through November as they make their way south;
• owls, when in some years a number of species spend the winter months in our area;
• shorebirds in May as they pass through on their way to their breeding grounds in the far north and again when they head south from July through September;
• terns along the coast in late summer, July through September

Using this in conjunction with updated reports from the excellent weekly Delaware Valley Rare Birding Alert will certainly help you pick a location at any time of year and possibly even get you a new bird!

BIRDING BY MONTH

January February March April

May June July August

September October November December

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Delaware Valley Birding Region is roughly defined as a circle, 150 miles in diameter, centered on Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It includes all or parts of the following counties:

In Pennsylvania;
Berks County, Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Lancaster County, Lebanon County, Lehigh County, Montgomery County, Northampton County and Philadelphia County.

In New Jersey;
Atlantic County, Burlington County, Camden County, Cape May County, Cumberland County, Gloucester County, Hunterdon County, Mercer County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Ocean County, Salem County, Somerset County and Warren County.

In Delaware;
New Castle County, Kent County and Sussex County