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| Bird Watching at it's Peak at Presque Isle |
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admin writes, "It's time to pack your binoculars and head for Presque Isle."
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Press Release Source: Pennsylvania Tourism
Office
PA's Presque Isle State Park at Its Peak for Bird Watching During 'National Wildlife Week'
Monday April 10, 5:51 pm ET
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- It's time for bird lovers to pack their binoculars, note books and field guides, because the endangered piping plover and the brilliant scarlet tanager, as well as hundreds of other colorful migrating bird species, will be showing off their feathers at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA, during National Wildlife Week (Apr. 22-30).
Presque Isle State Park is one of the nation's premier bird watching destinations. The 3,200-acre sandy peninsula arches into Lake Erie and features approximately 320 species of birds in six distinct ecological zones, each with a different plant and animal community.
The peninsula's location along the Atlantic Flyway and the diversity of natural habitats make Presque Isle State Park a unique haven for bird life. In fact, Birder's World magazine has named Presque Isle as one of the top birding spots in the country.
Shorebird migration peaks in April, and the weeks following National Wildlife Week will be peak time for warbler and songbird migration, making it one of the best times of year to visit Presque Isle.
Memorial Day weekend will mark the opening of the new Tom Ridge Environmental Center at Presque Isle, which will serve as a one-stop shop for visitors looking for educational programming and environmental research. The center houses a special area for amateur and professional birders to learn about birding and what can be found on Presque Isle. It will also offer daily bird watching updates, several bird exhibits and public birding walking tours with a state park naturalist, among other services and resources.
Presque Isle State Park and the Tom Ridge Environmental Center are located less than 200 miles from Cleveland, Akron and Canton, Ohio, as well as Buffalo, N.Y.
According to a 2002 study by the Travel Industry Association of America, participating in outdoor activities, including visits to state parks, is the second most popular trip activity in the nation. Ecotourism and soft adventure travel are expected to grow, with birding among the fastest-growing outdoor activities within that cluster, according to the latest National Survey on Recreation and the Environment. There are nearly 80 million birdwatchers in the U.S.
The Pennsylvania Tourism Office, under the state Department of Community and Economic Development, is dedicated to fulfilling the needs and aspirations of travelers by presenting them with the information and resources they need to plan and enjoy the activities, attractions and destinations that are uniquely Pennsylvania. For more information about Pennsylvania's tourism industry, go to:
http://www.visitpa.com, or call (800) VISIT PA.
Pennsylvania's 117 parks and three conservation areas, which offer about 7,000 campsites and 300 cabins, are open year-round and annually attract more than 35 million visitors. For more information on state parks and forests in Pennsylvania, visit the DCNR website at http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us.
To make an online reservation for an overnight stay at a state park, go to http://www.visitPAparks.com.
CONTACT: Carrie Fischer, (Tourism)
(717) 720-1301
Christina Novak, DCNR
(717) 772-9101
Source: Pennsylvania Tourism Office
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Posted on Apr 10, 2006 20:12pm.
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