Wildlife Watching at Canoe Creek State Park

Canoe Creek State Park maintains a variety of habitats for wildlife. Old fields, wetlands, a lake, and a limestone deep mine are interspersed with deciduous woodlots, which provide excellent habitat for more than 200 species of birds and mammals.

Birding

The park is a stopover resting spot for migrating birds and serves as a summer nesting site for others.

Canoe Lake is great for seeing migrating waterfowl.

Osprey and bald eagle are noteworthy spring and fall migrants, as are migrating ducks, swans, and warblers.

The wetlands and fields along Mary Anns Creek are frequented by:

• Bluebird
• Indigo bunting
• Cedar waxwing
• Oriole
• Red-winged blackbird
• Brown thrasher

An extensive cavity-nesting trail, consisting of more than 100 nest boxes, is monitored and maintained throughout the park.

Because of Canoe Creek State Park’s excellent biodiversity and habitats, the park has been designated as Important Bird Area #76 by the National Audubon Society and is included in the Susquehanna River Birding and Wildlife Trail.

Checklists and geocaching brochures can be obtained at the education center or the park office.

Bat Viewing

Because it hosts a winter hibernation site and summer maternity site for bats including state and federally endangered species, the park is a Pennsylvania Important Mammal Area designated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The Frank Felbaum Bat Sanctuary hosts a nursery colony of little brown bats. Historically an important colony due to its numbers, it has attracted the attention of both park visitors and biologists throughout the years.

On warm summer nights, visitors attend programs and watch the emergence of scores of bats.

A gated limestone mine serves as a monitored hibernation site for several species of bats, including state and federally endangered species.