BSES Nature Trail Round-Up 2024
Welcome to the 2024 edition of the BSES Nature Trail Round-Up! This post recaps the last year of both birding and birds the Nature Trail at Bethel Springs Elementary School in Garnet Valley School District.
In 2024, we tallied 87 different species of birds on the Bethel Springs campus, enjoyed 3 club session, and experienced 3 different summer camps with Trailblazers! We also added one new species of bird to the Birds of Bethel Springs checklist.
Trailblazers
This year, Trailblazers entered its 12th year! In 2024, we had three different sessions of Trailblazers BSES Birding Club! One of the best parts of the club is that each session offers a different set of birds to observe based upon the season. We had fantastic looks at many of our year-round resident bird species, and we even had some noteworthy observations during each session. The club also helped maintain our six Eastern Bluebird boxes found around our campus!
In addition to the club, we had three sessions of summer camp! Trailblazers High Adventure yet again embarked on another canoe trip down the Brandywine River. Trailblazers Adventure got to see amazing up-close views of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron! Trailblazers Summer Camp enjoyed a week of birding at Concord Elementary School and their amazing nature trail. To view the recap of each club and camp session, follow the links below:
New Species & eBird Hotspot Update
In 2024, we only identified one new species for the BSES Nature Trail: White-eyed Vireo! This individual was discovered behind the recess yard during the school day and was later in the day seen by the spring sesion of Trailblazers BSES Birding Club:
Later in the season, this species was noted as a probable breeder by Ethan Kang, who discovered a pair together in ideal habitat during the breeding season for more than 7 days.
At the time, this observation represented the 150th all-time species for the BSES Nature Trail eBird Hotspot. However, this species has been revised as the 149th species since we had a shift in our eBird data. There is a nearby piece of private property that we call "Peanut Pond." Trailblazers often visits this location since it is within walking distance of school. Since we often bird the BSES campus on our way to the pond, we always kept our eBird checklists for Peanut Pond under the BSES Nature Trail Hotspot. After further consideration, the eBird data for Peanut Pond has been moved to its own personal location. Between Peanut Pond's distance from the BSES Nature Trail and its unique habitat compared to the trail, we felt it makes the most sense when it comes to accurate record keeping. As a result of this change in data, Green Heron is no longer part of the BSES Nature Trail Hotspot list. The removal of these 13 checklists from the hotspot brings our eBird hotspot total back to 149 species for BSES.
Noteworthy Observations in 2024
In addition to the White-eyed Vireo, we had a handful of noteworthy observations for the BSES Nature Trail in 2024:
Cackling Goose - A species that also made the 2023 Round-Up Report, one Cackling Goose was observed on February 7th. This was the only observation of this species at BSES in 2024 and its sixth all-time observation for the eBird hotspot. This species is strikingly similar to a Canada Goose; in fact, Cackling Goose was once considered to be a subspecies of Canada Goose until it was split into its own species in 2004. The best place to look for Cackling Goose at BSES is on the ball fields along the entrance driveway during the winter months.
Belted Kingfisher - On October 30th, we observed a flyover Belted Kingfisher with the fall session of Trailblazers BSES Birding Club! This was a first observation for Trailblazers at BSES, and also a fourth all-time record of this species for property. All records of Belted Kingfisher at BSES are from late October through mid-November; all of which as flyovers since we do not have appropriate habtiat to sustain one (but Peanut Pond does!) Ethan Kang snapped some amazing photos of it flying over:
Pine Warbler - On  November 14th, we had a late Pine Warbler visiting our feeders out front of BSES; "Late" meaning this bird has yet to migrate south as expected! This observation represents a sixth all-time record of this speciesf for the property. This is the first observation of Pine Warbler at BSES in the month of November. This was not the first observation of the year! We had two singing birds earlier this year on April 22nd, which is an expected time of year to observe them in our area.
Savannah Sparrow - On May 6th, we had three Savannah Sparrows together at the baseball diamond with the spring session of Trailblazers BSES Birding Club! This observation represents a fifth all-time record of the species for the campus. This observation also set a new high count record of 3 Savannah Sparrows for the property.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - On May 6th, we had one Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the meadow area of the nature trail. This is a third all-time observation on the trail. Unfortunately, no photograph of this observation!
Prairie Warbler - On May 8th, we had a Prairie Warbler singing behind the recess yard. This observation represents an 8th all-time observation for the campus. The last time this species was observed at BSES was on May 13th, 2021; almost 3 years ago!
Bethel Township is a Bird Town & Bee City!
In 2024, Bethel Township was designated as both a Bird Town and Bee City! Congratulations to the township on receiving such important designations. We are thrilled to see that our local government is committed to caring for our flying and feathered friends alike.
What to Expect in 2025
We have a lot to look forward to with Trailblazers in 2025! We will have a winter, spring, and fall session of Trailblazers BSES Birding Club. We will also have our annual Nature Trail Cleanup sometime this spring with the help of our local scout troops. We will even have live birds of prey event happening at BSES on Friday, February 28th for GVSD families! Finally, looking into the summer, we have three fantastic weeks of summer camp that will soon be open for registration:
Trailblazers High Adventure Summer Camp - June 23rd-26th, 2025 - For ages 10 and up
Trailblazers Adventure Summer Camp - July 7th-10th, 2025 - For students entering grades 3-8
Trailblazers Junior Summer Camp - July 28th- 31st, 2025 - For students entering grades 1-5
Thank You
We have many people to thank for another successful year of Trailblazers! First, we need to thank James Harbison and Ethan Kang, who brought their wonderful talents and skills to Trailblazers programs this year. They helped students learn new things, stay safe, and find birds!

Next, we need to thank the Principal and Assistant Principal of Bethel Springs Elementary School, Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Papson. Not only are they wonderful leaders for our school, but they provide wonderful support and resources to help maintain our beautiful nature trail; an invaluable learning resource for our school and community. Also, we need to thank the BSES Nature Trail Committee. This committee is made up of parent volunteers from our school, and they have done a fantastic managing our trail and setting up special events to engage our school community with the trail. In addition to these volunteers, thank you to the Keepers of the Trail who volunteer to keep our trail clean.
Thank you to our awesome GVSD paraprofessional team who helped with our clubs and camps this year. They did a wonderful job working with our students and helping us have fun! Also, thank you to Joy Services for helping maintain our trail and habitats on our campus.
And finally, huge THANK YOU to Trailblazers students and families for their continued support of our program and our nature trail! We are looking forward to another exciting year of connecting students with nature in 2025!!!
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