West Bradford Township Enhances Park Experience With Bird Identification Guides

West Bradford Township is reimagining the park visitor experience through a new environmental education project, Birding in the Parks. Birding in the Parks will act as a beginner friendly introduction to birding, encouraging residents to learn how to identify common birds found within West Bradford Township parks. Bird identification guidebooks will be made available to residents later this year that will allow for a self-guided birding tour of West Bradford Township’s three most popular parks and preserves: Shadyside Park, Broad Run Park and Brandywine Meadows Preserve.

Birding in the Parks was developed by West Bradford Township’s seasonal GIS & Environmental Specialist Libby Boulanger, whose background in wildlife biology and geography made her well suited to take on the role. After earning a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from the University of Vermont and a master’s degree in geography from West Chester University, Ms. Boulanger is taking her expertise to the next level by spearheading this project.

Ms. Boulanger said she wanted to create something that would make birding easily accessible for anyone, not just experienced birdwatchers.

“These guidebooks are a good entry point into learning about the natural world,” she said. “It gives visitors an easy way to start recognizing the birds they see in our parks, and if it sparks their interest, maybe they’ll want to learn even more.”

Digital PDF guidebooks are currently available on the West Bradford Township website under the Birding in the Parks webpage, https://www.westbradford.org/339/Birding-in-the-Parks. Printed copies will be made available later in the year for residents and will be available at the West Bradford Township Building.

Designed with Park Visitors in Mind

Rather than overwhelming readers with technical information, Ms. Boulanger gave each bird a profile featuring a brief description and a memorable fact to help visitors recognize the species the next time they encounter it.

“If you know nothing about a bird at all, what’s something you could remember it by?” Ms. Boulanger said. “Just a little fun fact to really get people interested.”

When creating these guidebooks, Ms. Boulanger followed along the paved trails of each park to document the birds she saw and heard over multiple visits. These guidebooks are designed as an introduction for visitors, highlighting the birds they are most likely to see while exploring each park.

“The main question was, what am I seeing and hearing from the trails?” she said. “I wasn’t wandering through the woods or the thickets. I wanted to view the parks through the eyes of the average parkgoer.”

While creating the guidebooks, being realistic and keeping the guide accessible were Ms. Boulanger’s biggest priorities.

“This isn’t about hard data, like the measured wingspan of each bird,” she said. “It’s more about how a bird lives in this park and why it’s there. We wanted people to think about how the park is managed and what it brings to the table."

Interpretive Signs

The guidebooks are only one aspect of the Birding in the Parks project. West Bradford Township plans to install three new educational signs – one each at Shadyside Park, Broad Run Park and Brandywine Meadows Preserve. These interpretive signs will provide a quick overview of a bird habitat type found within West Bradford Township parks, and a list of guidebook birds associated with that habitat. Each interpretive sign will feature a QR code linking to a digital PDF of the park’s birding guidebook, allowing park visitors to access it directly from their phones.

About West Bradford Township

West Bradford Township is a Chester County municipality that stays committed to maintaining its parks and providing services that enhance the community.