I guess my favorite birding location is Bear Run Nature Preserve in SW Pennsylvania. Bear Run is the stream that runs under Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, the home he built for the Kaufmann family. I grew up 20 miles away. Bear Run has been protected for many years, so mature Hemlock, Oak, Hickory and Maple trees tower over tiered foliage of Sassafras, Winged Sumac Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, Blueberry, Trailing Arbutus, and Ground Pine. Bear Run is a small native Brook Trout stream running through it all, I remember it as paradise. Hooded, Black-throated Blue, Prairie, and Worm-eating Warblers can all be found here. I saw my first Long-eared Owl here, had some run-ins with bear and bobcat, and have never been disappointed. I think I enjoy it best alone, as the acoustics of the steep bluestone ridge above you are dampened by the lush tall forest; it seems the perfect setting for Wood Thrushes and Ruffed Grouse at Dawn, an unseen Pileated Woodpecker extolling its finding food from some fallen log. I think Pileateds call in exultation, upon finding yet another smorgasbord, is there any other bird so loudly jubilant? Perhaps Sandhill Cranes? Loons Yodeling? All three of these have raised the hair on the back of my neck when they call from close range.=20 I am heading to Pennsylvania for the next week, I will report back to you on the wonders of Bear Run, as I plan to be there for a couple of days. Good Birding to all of you.
Mark Alt Brooklyn Center, MN
