This is gonna be an interesting walk. I don’t have a ride to drop me off at my starting spot. I’ve parked my car in Harrison Hills Park and I’m going to walk a portion of the trail, then walk something like a mile on Freeport Road, and then get back into the park and finish two segments before I finish at my car. It’s gonna be a loooong day.
But I’m excited because this park is known for having an excellent selection of birds and I had my biggest big day here last spring. I think it was something like 65 species! So far this year my big day is 60 species at my friend Linda’s farm. Who knows what will happen today? When I get out of my car, I’m greeted by two Black-throated Green Warblers singing in the woods, and a Common Raven flying overhead.
The walk along Freeport Road is loud. One person honks but I think it’s a friendly honk. Maybe not. It’s hard to read the tone in honks. It’s like texting.
I do hear some birds on Freeport Rd. I hear Brown-headed Cowbirds, Red-eyed Vireo, I see a Black Capped Chickadee, and a Turkey Vulture. I hear a rapid insect-like call. Is it a Worm-Eating Warbler on Freeport Road? No, most likely it’s a Tennessee.
The highway part is done if you happen to be on Freeport Road in the middle of the day up in the Harrison Hills Park area and you saw somebody who looks like this, it was me walking on the side of the road.
In the park, I hear an Indigo Bunting and an American Redstart. I hear and recognize a Yellow-throated Vireo, then a Red-eyed begins to sing at the same time. It gives me a perfect chance to compare their similar but different song.
At one spot in the forest, I’m surrounded by a nice little group of migrating birds I see a Scarlet Tanager in the distance to Bay-breasted Warbler and an Eastern Wood Pewee.
I cross the quick moving creek I scare a Louisiana Waterthrush.
I pause at the spot where the red trail turns away from the Rachel Carson Trail. I watch the sky in the distance carefully. I can clearly identify two Purple Martens then I get three Tree Swallows, maybe four. It’s hard to keep track. I also spot an Eastern Bluebird and an Eastern Kingbird.
I’m one hour and 20 minutes into this walk and I have 45 species!
I spy some motion up ahead. It’s a Wood Thrush. It hops away performing parkour-like jumps off of tree stumps and tree trunks.
I stand still for a minute on a cliff edge trying to decide if I’m hearing a shy Red-eyed Vireo or a Blue-headed Vireo when suddenly I hear the cicada-like thrill of the Worm-eating Warbler! Then a Pileated Woodpecker lands on the tree right above me!! A Turkey Vulture soars just beyond the trees at eye level!!! it’s a stunning day!!!!
A train goes by making it hard to hear anything so I take that opportunity to eat my protein bar. When the train passes a chorus of warblers starts up again. I get Chestnut-sided, another Black-and-White, and there’s a Baltimore Oriole! Then I hear the Worm-eating starts up again. I can’t see it, it’s pretty far down the cliff side.
Up ahead, there’s a bird swooping back-and-forth. It lands and pumps its tail. It’s an Eastern Phoebe snacking on the insects that are swirling in the sunlit section of trail.
I pass the playground and a Scarlet Tanager decides to pose for me!
After a quick bathroom break, I cross what’s called the rainbow bridge. It’s incredibly active. There’s two Wood Thrushes, a Towhee, a Scarlet Tanager, a Pileated, a Red-bellied, and all kinds of warblers.
There’s also what looks like a Red-eyed Vireo, but after watching it carefully for a while I decide it’s the elusive Philadelphia Vireo. It’s a smallish bird, a yellow underbelly, (but I had to make sure it wasn’t reflection from a leaf) and a dark lore that continued between the eye and the beak.
I pass the lake, hoping to get an interesting sparrow or two maybe a Great Blue Heron even some Northern Rough-winged Swallows. There’s a nice collection of Red-winged Blackbirds. There’s a Northern Yellow Warbler and even a Bluebird. I continue walking in the woods and two horses with riders past me. I consider asking the horses if they know my horse friend from yesterday, but decide against it.
Then I’m back at my car, and it’s time to see what my total species count is. Drum roll….67! 67 species!!! My biggest day ever!!!
It’s not all about the total number of species, but it is so wonderful to see so many.
RCT - Harrison Hills Loop, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
May 15, 2026 11:11 AM - 2:32 PM
Protocol: Traveling
6.006 kilometer(s)
67 species
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 11
American Herring Gull 1
Turkey Vulture 4
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 9
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4
Eastern Phoebe 3
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Yellow-throated Vireo 2
Philadelphia Vireo 1 Yellow underbelly, dark lore between beak and eye
Eastern Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 13
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 1
Common Raven 1
Carolina Chickadee 6
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 9
Tree Swallow 3
Purple Martin 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Northern House Wren 1
Carolina Wren 1
Gray Catbird 4
Eastern Bluebird 2
Swainson's Thrush 1
Hermit Thrush 1 A little unusual but not unusual for this park
Wood Thrush 12
American Robin 14
House Sparrow 3
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 5
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 5
Eastern Towhee 11
Baltimore Oriole 4
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Common Grackle 1
Worm-eating Warbler 1
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Black-and-white Warbler 5
Tennessee Warbler 2
Kentucky Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Hooded Warbler 6
American Redstart 3
Cape May Warbler 1
Bay-breasted Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 4
Northern Yellow Warbler 4
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Yellow-throated Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Scarlet Tanager 8
Northern Cardinal 16
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 4
Indigo Bunting 3
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S339489369
Impressive undertaking (and checklist!!!)—you rock!! 🥾🥾