Earth Day, founded in 1970, was intended at that time to educate the public to growing environmental issues.
Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” brought attention to the indiscriminate use of pesticides and herbicides, leading to the first real breakthrough, the ban of DDT in 1972.
At the same time, people around the world were finally realizing how important it was to limit loss of habitats, assessing the effect of chemicals in the environment, keeping our air clean, etc.
This year, Earth Day is being celebrated on April 22. The year may be different, but mounting environmental concerns are not.
We have made great strides in cleaning up our streams and rivers, greatly reducing air pollution (when is the last time you read about acid rain), and protecting more and more animal species.
I’m usually not trying to bring political issues to my column, and yes, having cleaner water and air is crucial, but not the whole picture.
We keep losing habitat to unwise use of our forests, marshes, grasslands, and seashores. I hope I can pique your interest in realizing that we need to preserve what wild and vulnerable habitats remain, and revitalize areas to which we have already laid waste.
Think of how you might influence municipal leaders who make the decisions on construction projects (warehouses, expansive solar farms, huge housing developments, etc.).
I think these are some of the reasons Earth Day was started over 50 years ago. We have a chance to be heard, ensuring that well-researched decisions on altering nature around us are made. Decisions not only just for today, but also for many, many years to follow.
Take advantage of the variety of good habitats still around us to explore and to appreciate what still remains. Take a walk, take a casual drive, or get on your bike to soak in nature’s treasures.
This may be the best time of the year, because this is the window when so many birds start returning to the Times News region. You could find 50 or more species in one morning. Find some time to appreciate their beauty and variety.
Maybe seeing a few of the birds I’m highlighting today will remind us of the importance of wildlife and habitat preservation. So, get out there and help make every day, Earth Day.
Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: _____ species of birds have been observed in Pennsylvania. A. 240; B. 310; C. 386; D. 435.
Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Barn swallows are found on every continent but Antarctica.
Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com
As the willow leaves begin to form along streams and damp areas, look for the returning cedar waxwings. A few over-winter here but most will now make their way back to snatch insects emerging from the water’s surface. BARRY REED/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
If the stream levels remain low, look along the muddy edges for one of the two early sandpiper species to arrive, the solitary sandpiper. The name is rather fitting because I seldom see more than one feeding on insects and small invertebrates in its favored habitats.
In more forested areas, probably not in your backyard, look for the earliest arriving vireo species, the blue-headed vireo. They are often easier to find due to their arrival before most of the foliage is on the trees.
One of the first flycatcher species, usually arriving here late April, is the great-crested flycatcher. If you use a birding app to help you with identification, you’ll soon learn its characteristic “wheep” call. They are rather unusual for flycatchers because they use nesting cavities. If you live in a wooded area, make a bluebird sized nest box with a larger nest hole opening and see if you get any interest.
While in a woodlot or on a forest trail, look low for the ovenbird. They are quite vocal. Note that they walk on the forest floor leaf litter. Their name was given for their “oven shaped” nest placed on the ground, which is very unusual for a warbler species.
Almost robin sized, and larger than the ovenbird, is another forest floor dweller, the wood thrush. There is nothing to compare to an early morning forest walk and hearing their flute-like songs.
Another bird usually found close to the forest floor is the Eastern towhee. Males will “sing away” from a low perch while trying to entice the duller colored females to their territory. Their song sounds like “drink your tea, drink your tea.”
In the next few days I’ll head to one of my favorite spots, which I call “Catbird Alley,” in East Penn Township. One day there are none to be found but the next day they seem to be everywhere. I’m referring to the gray catbird. They can be rather suburban birds, too, if you have enough shrubbery in or along your property.
I photographed this pair of brown thrashers (male on bottom) at a Franklin Township location a few years ago. I just recorded the first thrashers on my 2025 list last week.
Look for one of the most brilliantly colored woodland residents in about another 10 days or so. Scarlet tanager males are just the species to remind you that Earth Day ideals of saving prime habitat are so important.
Not playing second fiddle to the male tanager is the male rose-breasted grosbeak. Eating more seeds than tanagers, grosbeaks may show up at one of your feeders in about a week. Keep your eyes open.
The tireless singer of our forests and woodlots is the red-eyed vireo. It moves a bit slower in the treetops than warblers so it can offer you a better chance at spotting him. (Use your Sibley App to learn its song, and realize they are more commonly heard than seen.)