Fridays With Birds
- Apr 11
- 4 min read
by Margaret Hopkins
[Originally published in the Spring 2026 issue of Mount Gretna Magazine. View the full issue to see this story in its designed layout, complete with additional images.]
For the past 17 years, the Mount Gretna Bird Club has met every Friday morning to identify and observe the birds passing through, breeding, or nesting on Lake Conewago and in the surrounding woods and nearby game lands.
Anyone can participate regardless of whether they can distinguish a robin from a bluebird or a red-shouldered hawk from a turkey vulture. Indeed, while the club’s name suggests an avian focus, often an insect, a flower, or a rock formation will catch someone’s eye and grab the group’s attention.
“We don’t just look at birds on our walks—we look at everything,” says Sid Hostetter, club founder and de facto president. “We study it, we discuss it, and we may even lie on the ground to look at it.”
Unlike formal ornithology outings, Gretna’s walks are about being outside, sharing information and stories, and observing the hidden features of the natural surroundings that people often don’t stop to notice or explore, according to Sid, a retired middle school earth sciences teacher.
“It’s like a science class,” says Lorraine Bell, who has attended bird walks since 2011. “The knowledge of the group is amazing. There’s someone who knows about butterflies, someone else about plants, and then Sid with fossils.”
A typical Friday morning involves caravaning to two to three stops chosen by the week’s leader — often Sid. Most of the stops are in or around Gretna, Colebrook, or the woods around the Governor Dick Environmental Center. The group has ventured to Conowingo Dam near Conowingo, Maryland, to see eagles and to Speedwell Forge Lake in Lancaster County to observe waterfowl.
“Most of us are curious about the environment and the natural world,” says George Tallman, an avid birder who once taught in the same school as Sid and was one of the first to sign up for the Mount Gretna Bird Club.
George estimates that, in any year, the club will observe between 120 and 160 of the approximately 400 species seen in Pennsylvania. These species include some that are infrequent visitors to southeast Pennsylvania, such as the peregrine falcon, American bittern, and sandhill crane.
The species present depend largely on their preferred habitat: woodlands, cultivated fields, or lakes and wetlands.
Sid and his wife, Evelyn, began birdwatching and attending bird walks when they lived in the Philadelphia area. When they moved to Gretna, they decided to start a Friday morning bird walk “to give back to the community,” Sid explains.
“The more you learn about the outside world, the better you are able to preserve and protect what we have,” Sid adds.
Birds are critical to a healthy ecosystem, as they provide numerous benefits. They pollinate plants, feed on insect pests that can attack crops, disperse seeds, serve as a food source for other animals, and recycle nutrients (think vultures and roadkill).
Lose one species, and the fragile interconnection among an ecosystem’s living organisms may be compromised. Lose more, and the ecosystem becomes vulnerable to collapse.
Unfortunately, North America’s wild bird populations are declining, according to the 2025 U.S. State of the Birds report, released last March and compiled by scientists with conservation organizations and federal agencies.
Of the more than 700 species across the United States, almost one-third are “of high or moderate conservation concern,” including one in four Eastern forest birds, such as the American woodcock, Eastern Whip-poor-will, and scarlet tanager.
Destruction of habitat due to land conversion for development and agriculture is one reason. So is the introduction of non-native plants into our landscapes, which has had a cascading negative impact on native insects, particularly caterpillars, the birds’ primary protein source for their young.
“The analogy is to musical chairs: If you keep taking a chair away, eventually there is no place to go,” says George, paraphrasing a favorite analogy among naturalists. “Every time we remove a natural habitat or a natural food source, we reduce the population, typically without realizing it.”
Enhancing awareness of the need to learn, understand, and protect the qualities that support a healthy ecosystem is what the Friday morning bird walks are all about.
“As our small group walks through the woods, we help to spread the word of the importance of our natural surroundings and how to work together to protect them,” Sid says.
Joining a Mount Gretna Bird Club bird walk is simple—show up at 9 a.m. every Friday at the Chautauqua parking lot off of Route 117. Binoculars are recommended, although loaners are available. Wear sturdy shoes, dress for the weather, and expect to be awed by the magnificence of our environment.
The Bird Club does not impose dues. There are no officers or membership requirements. For more information, email MtGretnaBirdClub@yahoo.com.
Margaret Hopkins is a fourth-generation member and full-time resident of the Mount Gretna Campmeeting Association. She enjoys learning about Mount Gretna’s history and has written stories for the Mount Gretna Area Historical Society newsletters.
