Building Community through Bird Watching at the Navy Yard

by Navy Yard
March 18, 2024

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The Navy Yard is officially going the birds! Come down with your lunch and join BirdPhilly every Thursday from 12-1 p.m. at 13th and Admiral Peary Way to learn about the Navy Yard’s overwintering guests on the Delaware River! The Trip Leader will have a scope for easy viewing of ducks, so no binoculars are necessary.

BirdPhilly’s goal is to increase interest and awareness of Philadelphia’s birds by providing quality birding experiences on expertly guided field trips. The guided trips at the Navy Yard are free of charge and are open to children, adults, and well-behaved pets.

For Manny Dominguez Jr., who leads the birdwatching walks at the Navy Yard, he uses the group as an opportunity to share a passion with other Navy Yard employees and to get outside and enjoy nature.

“I started birding during the pandemic in 2021 as a way of getting outside and enjoying nature,” he said. “My interest in birds and birding started here at the Navy Yard. I work for the Urban Outfitters home office as a photographer, and I would take walks during my lunch, or before work and would see and hear birds and I had no idea what these birds were. So, I decided to download a birding app called Merlin, and I got hooked!

“Now, I bird here at the Navy Yard almost every day. I wanted to host bird walks here at the Navy Yard, because it is a place I really love to bird. The Navy Yard is situated in a great area right along the Delaware River where you can see many different types of birds. I also really love the history of the Navy Yard, so I try to incorporate some of that into my walks as well.

“It’s important to me to bring awareness of the birds here at the Navy Yard because living and working in a city, it’s really easy to forget about nature. I want people to get outside and find the joy that I find when seeing a bird. Anyone can step outside their office building here at the Navy Yard and see a majestic bald eagle soar right over your head, and I think that is just incredible.”

More Information

All Navy Yard bird watching events through BirdPhilly will be posted on the Navy Yard Events website and the complete BirdPhilly events schedule can be found on the BirdPhilly website.

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