Trailblazers Adventure Summer Camp, July 2026
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Trailblazers Adventure Summer Camp was our second session of the summer season! Each day, we ventured out on a field trip to a different location to go hiking, exploring, and birding. This is our “medium” level of camp, where the days are not as long, field trip locations are closer, and the hiking isn’t as strenuous compared to our High Adventure session. During our four days together, we observed a total of 53 different
species of birds. We also hiked 8.3 miles during our days together
Our first day of camp began with our usual review of expectations and itinerary for the week! We then split the group; half went hiking with Mr. McLaughlin while the other half went birding with Mr. BQ. Mr. McLaughlin’s hike practiced trail etiquette and reviewed VIPs (Very Important Plants) on the BSES Nature Trail. On the bird walk, it was a very birdy morning at BSES! We had a family of Gray Catbirds bathing in a puddle for all to see through the scope. We also followed a family of Northern Mockingbird as they worked the Francis Harvey Green School fields. We closed out a mimicker hat trick with a brief appearance from a Brown Thrasher as well. Up in the sky, the warmth of the day caused the bird of prey activity to pick up! We had great looks at Black Vulture and Turkey Vulture, but the bird highlight of the day was definitely an immature Bald Eagle soaring overhead!
We boarded the bus around noon for our first field trip of the week: Bush Hill Farm! This was a first time visit for Trailblazers, and we were treated to an afternoon of special guests at the park. Ethan Kang, Garnet Valley High School graduate and President of the GVHS Birding Club, spoke to the group about the Purple Martin colony he helped establish at the park. He also showed students the insides of the nest boxes that housed Eastern Bluebirds and House Wren. Ethan even rocked his first edition Trailblazers Adventure Summer Camp T-shirt from when he was a young student! Steve Jacobs, Concord Township Parks and Recreation Director, joined with intern Erin to teach the group about the environmental projects happening around Bush Hill Farm. We also had a visit from Mikey Piciotti (or as some of the students called him, Coach Pick.) He presented to the students about their new butterfly garden and showed us around the pond. The most surprising moment of the day came when the students got to watch some of the workers cut down a tree that was in bad health! This first day of camp really had it all: great birds, unexpected surprises, and both old and new friends tagging along!
Our second day of camp took us on a field trip to Okehocking Preserve; a Trailblazers Adventure favorite (our 13th visit in fact!) This location has everything we need for a great day of camp: excellent habitat, challenging hiking, and a nice stretch of creek for exploring (and of course: both a bathroom and school bus access.) We first did a whole group hike through the preserve. At the barn deep in the woods, we had a male Eastern Towhee singing on territory for the whole group to see. As we circled down along the creek, we had great looks at Downy Woodpecker and a Red-tailed Hawk getting attacked by a Red-winged Blackbird! When we made it to the top of the hill behind the pond, we were able to make a quick visit to the Purple Martin colony as well as a brief study of the differences between Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow. The students were fascinated by what appeared to be some sort of mammal skeleton draped over the barbed wire fence of one of the ponds! As we were marching back to the bus for lunch, some of the students had turned back and were shouting something to me… I looked through my binoculars down the trail and there was James, long time Trailblazers volunteer and Garnet Valley high school graduate! James dropped in for a surprise visit; yet another special guest this week! He joined us for the rest of the afternoon as the students cooled off in the creek. Brave students who ventured upstream were treated to views of a rather extensive beaver dam in the creek!
Day three of camp took us on a field trip to ChesLen Preserve; only our second-ever visit to this location with Trailblazers! Today was marked by our first above 100° day of camp for the summer. As a result of the heat advisory, we had to pivot from our usual plan of hiking through the preserve. We ended up spending our morning exploring Ollie Owl’s Nature Playground behind the Lenfest Center. We hadn’t scouted this location in advance, but even though it seemed to be targeted more towards younger kids, the Trailblazers students really enjoyed it! There were multiple stations throughout the forest for the kids to climb and play. There was even a tiny creek to look for critters (we found some crayfish and a handful of Two-lined Salamanders!) While we ate lunch in the shade at the Lenfest center, the students met a dog named Buckaroo. They ended up chanting for the dog as it came to say hello and scurried away! In the afternoon, we took the bus over to Corcoran’s Bridge on the north side of the preserve. This location was quite familiar to us since we put in our canoes and kayaks here during the High Adventure session on the canoe trip. We spent the rest of the day at this spot beating the heat in the water! Matthew brought along a fish trap and caught a fish. We also had a few students find crayfish! This field trip ended up exceeding expectations. Definitely one to keep on the list for future years!
Our fourth and final day of camp for the session took us on a field trip to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia. Usually, our last field trip of a session is planned as the grand finale; whether it’s the most adventurous or birdiest location for the week. Today’s field trip didn’t exactly go as planned… First, we had a red alert for air quality (around 170) due to smoke in our area from the wildfires in Canada. As a result, we decided to delay departure so we would spend less time outside in these conditions. We also offered masks to students who wanted some extra protection from the smoky conditions. Once we finally arrived at John Heinz NWR, we found out that the main impoundment driveway was closed for construction. To make matters worse, once we got out to the famous Big Boardwalk, the usually marshy main impoundment was completely bone dry and overgrown with vegetation! We did get to see an immature Bald Eagle fly over. We also had great looks at Red-winged Blackbird feeding young and Barn Swallows soaring about. We didn’t get to see any of the birds we were studying at school in the morning before we left (not even a Great Blue Heron!) We ended up pulling the plug even earlier than expected to go hang inside the Cusano Center’s exhibit hall before heading back to school early. Sad to say this was the worst field trip to John Heinz NWR we’ve ever had (and likely a personal all-time worst visit for me!) But even with poor conditions and few birds, the students still made the best of it, and we still had fun when we got back to school to wrap up our week together.
Overall, we had a wonderful week of camp together! We had trips that exceeded expectations, trips that didn’t go as planned, and a flurry of great guests along the way. We also enjoyed some awesome birds (including two Bald Eagles in two different places!) Thank you to all who joined us for this session. We are looking forward to Trailblazers Summer Camp, our last session of the summer, from July 27th-31st on the Concord Elementary School Nature Trail!
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