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Volunteers help transform state gameland into bird watching area
by Chris McGann
Bird watchers, duck hunters, and boaters can now access an excellent habitat just outside of Wellsboro.
Volunteers from the Tiadaghton Audubon Society, with the help of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, spent the summer building structures at State Game Lands 313 in Delmar Township.
The bird watching/hunting area is located on the northern Dresser Road, off Route 287. There are two Dresser Roads, which do not connect.
"This was a jungle in here," said Audubon Society member Dr. Bob Ross. "You could not get in here without great difficulty."
The area is a marsh land, that at one time supported celery farming.
It is one of the state's better bird and duck habitats. That was true even before this year's work.
Volunteers and Game Commission employees worked Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays between July and October. Ross said that he got the idea for the improvements after visiting other wildlife refuges.
The Game Commission constructed a path leading from a small parking area to the boardwalk.
The volunteers built an observation blind and a boardwalk to the blind. The boardwalk extends about 300 feet into the marsh. The society had to obtain a wetlands encroachment permit to do the work.
The blind features five windows, two of which are lower so people can sit and watch or for children to see the birds.
From the blind, bird watchers can observe all kinds of wildlife like mallards, wood ducks, marsh wrens, herons, the endangered American bitterns, Virginia rails, snipes, bluebirds, hawks, and Canadian Geese. Other wildlife like bear and deer and also inhabit the area.
The blind allows people to obverse and photograph nature without disturbing the wildlife.
"The wildlife are somewhat shy and secretive," Ross said.
Future plans for the blind, which resembles a small shack, include a poster showing the local birds and a book for visitors to record the birds that they observe in the marsh.
There are also plans for road signs leading travelers to the area. Ross noted that the marsh is part of the Susquehanna Birding Trail System.
"People will come from long distances to see these birds," Ross said.
Summer is the best time to observe birds, Ross related. In the fall and spring, birds use the marsh during migrations. In the winter, the marsh is mostly frozen, but a few springs provide habitat for ducks and bluebirds.
Ross pointed out that it is rare to have such a good birding habitat. The marsh has fish and insects to provide food. He also noted that the land is an emergent marsh, meaning that plants grow out of the water.
It is also a fairly large body of water, measuring about two miles long and about half a mile wide.
Hunters will also benefit from the improved access to the marsh, said Steve Gehinger, Game Commission land manager/group supervisor.
There is nothing illegal about hunting from the blind, he said, but there is not much room in the windows to use a gun.
Many hunters, Gehinger said, prefer to hunt from canoes. The new facilities and trail allow access for that, too.
"This benefits the hunters as well as the bird watchers and anyone who wants to bring a canoe out here," Gehinger said.
He also pointed out that the Game Commission is always looking for partners on projects like this. The state, he said, cannot always afford to fund projects like the boardwalk and blind.
Volunteers from the Tiadaghton Audubon Society, with the help of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, spent the summer building structures at State Game Lands 313 in Delmar Township.
The bird watching/hunting area is located on the northern Dresser Road, off Route 287. There are two Dresser Roads, which do not connect.
"This was a jungle in here," said Audubon Society member Dr. Bob Ross. "You could not get in here without great difficulty."
The area is a marsh land, that at one time supported celery farming.
It is one of the state's better bird and duck habitats. That was true even before this year's work.
Volunteers and Game Commission employees worked Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays between July and October. Ross said that he got the idea for the improvements after visiting other wildlife refuges.
The Game Commission constructed a path leading from a small parking area to the boardwalk.
The volunteers built an observation blind and a boardwalk to the blind. The boardwalk extends about 300 feet into the marsh. The society had to obtain a wetlands encroachment permit to do the work.
The blind features five windows, two of which are lower so people can sit and watch or for children to see the birds.
From the blind, bird watchers can observe all kinds of wildlife like mallards, wood ducks, marsh wrens, herons, the endangered American bitterns, Virginia rails, snipes, bluebirds, hawks, and Canadian Geese. Other wildlife like bear and deer and also inhabit the area.
The blind allows people to obverse and photograph nature without disturbing the wildlife.
"The wildlife are somewhat shy and secretive," Ross said.
Future plans for the blind, which resembles a small shack, include a poster showing the local birds and a book for visitors to record the birds that they observe in the marsh.
There are also plans for road signs leading travelers to the area. Ross noted that the marsh is part of the Susquehanna Birding Trail System.
"People will come from long distances to see these birds," Ross said.
Summer is the best time to observe birds, Ross related. In the fall and spring, birds use the marsh during migrations. In the winter, the marsh is mostly frozen, but a few springs provide habitat for ducks and bluebirds.
Ross pointed out that it is rare to have such a good birding habitat. The marsh has fish and insects to provide food. He also noted that the land is an emergent marsh, meaning that plants grow out of the water.
It is also a fairly large body of water, measuring about two miles long and about half a mile wide.
Hunters will also benefit from the improved access to the marsh, said Steve Gehinger, Game Commission land manager/group supervisor.
There is nothing illegal about hunting from the blind, he said, but there is not much room in the windows to use a gun.
Many hunters, Gehinger said, prefer to hunt from canoes. The new facilities and trail allow access for that, too.
"This benefits the hunters as well as the bird watchers and anyone who wants to bring a canoe out here," Gehinger said.
He also pointed out that the Game Commission is always looking for partners on projects like this. The state, he said, cannot always afford to fund projects like the boardwalk and blind.
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