Black Birders Week is back for 2022 — it will run May 29 through June 4 — and Drexel University’s Academy of Natural Sciences is celebrating on May 28 with a black-tie Black Excellence in Birding evening. Philadelphia birders have been at the forefront of the movement to elevate Black birding, and the event features
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A black bear was spotted in Montgomery County in Hatfield Township near Rt. 309 on Monday evening. Another black bear was captured by the Pennsylvania Game Commission on May 4 in Clifton Heights in Delaware County and relocated to a less populated area. The DelCo bear had been spotted in Montgomery and Chester Counties as
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The numbers bear it out: Philadelphia’s parks are severely underfunded. The Trust for Public Land has released its annual ParkScore Index, and Philadelphia has slipped in the rankings to 32 out of the country’s 100 most populous cities, down from 19 in 2021. The index scores city park systems in subcategories such as access, acreage,
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Want to get involved with advocacy around the Cobbs Creek Golf Course development? Two opportunities are coming up this month: First, the Cobbs Creek Foundation, which is the nonprofit developing the golf courses, is holding a town hall Zoom meeting on May 18 at 7 p.m..: The Cobbs Creek Foundation (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization), would
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From April 29 to May 2 Philadelphia will take part in the City Nature Challenge, an international urban bioblitz in which hundreds of cities around the globe will try to get as many people making as many observations of as many species as possible. Anyone using the citizen science platform iNaturalist to observe plants, animals,
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The City of Philadelphia is not serious about climate change. Yet many people who work for the city are incredibly serious about it. They are dedicated, talented and passionate civil servants. Leadership, on the other hand, is lacking. The result is a mishmash of positive programs trying to methodically tackle the challenges we face colliding
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Over the last decade I have searched abandoned riverfront properties for skinks and black rat snakes, spooking deer and watching warblers, as I climbed over riprap shorelines and picked my way across the rotting timbers of overgrown piers. A city in decay offers the naturalist unlimited opportunities, while a city on the rise takes them
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The sun shone bright on a landscape cross-hatched with felled trees on a walking tour of the Cobbs Creek Golf Course on April 4. The Cobbs Creek Restoration and Community Foundation, the organization overseeing the revamping of the golf course, had the trees cut down, said Dana Henry, the tour guide and a spokesperson with
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Parks advocates led by the Philadelphia Parks Alliance gathered on the afternoon of April 21 for a “Rec It Philly” rally at City Hall. Mayor Jim Kenney’s 2023 budget proposal asks for a $2.5 million increase over 2022 funding for Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, less than the $8 million increase that the Parks Alliance says
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Looking to spruce up your garden while creating habitat for local wildlife? Skip the hostas and begonias and try some native plants instead! Lots of flowers can feed area pollinators, and birds will eat exotic berries, but many of our local bugs are finely adapted to the plants they evolved eating. Choosing native plants benefits
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