Touring through Northwestern PA is a ton of fun. There are numerous lakes throughout this region that serve as tremendous habitats for all sorts of creatures. This makes them a hotspot for birding and Northwestern PA has so many excellent places for birdwatching, especially in the winter. MK Goddard State Park in Sandy Lake, PA is home to tremendous birdwatching opportunities, especially when it comes to eagles and ospreys. The marsh lands surrounding the Lake Wilhelm at MK Goddard State Park are excellent habitats for a number of raptors.
This eagle was perched about 50 feet away from us near the marshlands at the lake.
Lake Wilhelm
While we did not catch any birds on this specific trip to Conneaut Lake, although we did see some in the immediate area. The historic Hotel Conneaut, Conneaut Lake Park Grounds, and Conneaut Lake, PA's largest natural lake, are absolutely gorgeous with snow and ice. It is serene and an interesting contrast going through these grounds with the quiet of winter when compared to buzz of summer fun that comes with this area being one of the state's oldest summer resorts. Just a couple more months until summer fun begins at the park again.
Now we head Pymatuning State Park. When the Bald Eagle was nearly wiped out of existence in the state, the last breeding pair is said to have survived at Pymatuning State Park. While we did not see any on this particular visit, we did see a bunch of geese and many Peregrine Falcons.
And over the the Pymatuning Spillway!
Normally there would be thousands of carp surfacing for feeding. Nonetheless, there were still a few that surfaced, even in that extremely cold weather.
We then headed up towards Presque Isle State Park, taking some back roads all the way up. On the way, we happened to catch this huge hawk. It is probably the largest hawk that we have ever seen. The wetlands of the Erie National Wildlife Refuge and Presque Isle State Park are two more awesome birding destinations to check out in Northwestern PA.
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