Free Library To Introduce Birding Backpack Program
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Free Library of Philadelphia will introduce its new Birding Backpack program Saturday, at a special event at the site of the future Discovery Center at East Park Reservoir at 33rd and Oxford in Strawberry Mansion.
The backpacks will soon be available at the Andorra, Cecil B. Moore, and Widener Library branches.
Tony Croasdale, the Parks and Recreation Environmental Education Planner, will lead birdwalks at the event, marking the debut of the birding backpacks.
"You can check out a backpack with binoculars, and maps, and a field guide to birds, and you can use them wherever you want, but the idea is to get the folks in those neighborhoods to go out to the parks that are closest to them," Croasdale explained.
And the price is definitely right.
"You don't have to invest money to purchase your own binoculars, and field guides -- you can borrow some to let you try it out, or if you don't have the means, you can always just keep repeatedly borrowing these," said Croasdale.
Croasdale grew up in a Northeast Philadelphia rowhouse without a backyard, so Fairmount Park filled that role. Now, his job is to introduce young people to the wildlife it shelters.
"It's the greatest feeling in the world. I've had kids hyperventilate with excitement when they see an Osprey and a Bald Eagle in a tussle," he said.
For details, visit birdphilly.org
