Natural Lands

Natural Lands we save open space, care for nature, and connect people to the outdoors.

Natural Lands is a non-profit organization that saves open space, cares for nature, and connects people to the outdoors in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. We’ve been at it since the early 1950s and, today, nearly five million people live within five miles of lands under our permanent protection.

space for all. it’s in our nature.Happy Pride 🤍🩷🩵🤎🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜Photo credits:💛 Greater Yellowlegs by Dustin Welch, photograph...
06/05/2026

space for all. it’s in our nature.

Happy Pride 🤍🩷🩵🤎🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Photo credits:
💛 Greater Yellowlegs by Dustin Welch, photographed at Glades Wildlife Refuge in Newport, NJ
💜 Sharp-lobed hepatica by David Korbonits, photographed at Stoneleigh: a natural garden in Villanova, PA
🤍 Bloodroot by Kirsten Keyes Myers at Bryn Coed Preserve in Chester Springs, PA
🩷 Plymouth rose gentian by David Korbonits, photographed at Stoneleigh: a natural garden in Villanova, PA
🩵 View from the Centanino bench by Jill Sabre, photographed at Stroud Preserve in West Chester, PA
🤎 Eastern copperhead snakes by Bill Moses
🖤 Black bear by Josh Saltmer, photographed at the eponymous Bear Creek Preserve
❤️ Coastal doghobble 'Curly Red' by David Korbonits, photographed at Stoneleigh: a natural garden in Villanova, PA
🧡 Monarch by Bill Moses, photographed at Gwynedd Preserve in North Wales, PA
💛 Black-eyed susans by Chuck Babbitt, photographed at Bryn Coed Preserve in Chester Springs, PA
💚 Trail through ferns by Kristina Englert, photographed at Sadsbury Woods Preserve in Coatesville, PA
💙 Indigo Bunting by Michael Gehman
💜 Baptisia 'Purple Towers' by Sam Nestory, photographed at Stoneleigh: a natural garden in Villanova, PA

The Green Heron is one of the world’s few tool-using bird species. It often creates fishing lures with bread crusts, ins...
06/04/2026

The Green Heron is one of the world’s few tool-using bird species. It often creates fishing lures with bread crusts, insects, and feathers, dropping them on the surface of the water to entice small fish.

📸: John McNamara

"Hello all, my name is Jonathan Long. I’m a member of Natural Lands’ NextGen Council. For a day job, I’m a land use and ...
06/02/2026

"Hello all, my name is Jonathan Long. I’m a member of Natural Lands’ NextGen Council. For a day job, I’m a land use and property attorney in West Chester, Chester County, but I’ve always had a love of the outdoors and hiking after growing up in central Pennsylvania in the woods on the side of a mountain.

As professions go, law can be pretty stressful, so I lean into destressing activities, which for me are hiking and photography. Hiking allows me to clear my head and photography provides a creative outlet. Over the years, I have found that there are perhaps no better spots for enjoying hiking and photography together than Natural Lands’ preserves. My home preserves — Stroud, ChesLen, and Bryn Coed — are my favorite spots, but I’m always looking for new spots. The preserves’ combination of woods, grasslands, native flowers, and strategically placed scenic overlooks provides a plethora of motifs and subjects.

One of my absolute favorite things to do is to get up early, grab coffee, and head out to Stroud when the world, and the sun, are just waking up. There’s something so magical about catching shots of the morning mist still clinging to the hillsides, dew drops on cobwebs strung between grass stems, or bees and butterflies lazily enjoying the native flowers in the fields.

I hope you enjoy the pics and I hope to see you out at one of the preserves someday!"

- Jonathan Long, Natural Lands' NextGen Council Member

Sibling rivalry among young American Kestrels can be fierce, and yes — hatch order matters! The larger the clutch, the t...
05/26/2026

Sibling rivalry among young American Kestrels can be fierce, and yes — hatch order matters! The larger the clutch, the tougher it can be to compete for food, space, and attention. Clear pecking orders are established early, with the earlier-hatched chicks (or older siblings) usually dominating and getting first-dibs at the dinner table. Or you know, the mouse that was just dropped off.

📸: Claudia Winters

Our annual summer celebration and fundraiser, Stardust, is just around the corner on Friday, June 5th! Join us in the in...
05/21/2026

Our annual summer celebration and fundraiser, Stardust, is just around the corner on Friday, June 5th! Join us in the inspiring gardens of Stoneleigh: in Villanova for an evening marked in merriment and community under the stars. Know that your support does make a difference: every ticket purchased advances our highest priorities for saving open space, caring for nature, and connecting people to the outdoors and each other.

Registrations close Tuesday, June 2nd. We hope to see you there.

Check out the Blue Jay just to the right of this Barred Owl! Jays are notorious for harassing owls and other raptors as ...
05/20/2026

Check out the Blue Jay just to the right of this Barred Owl! Jays are notorious for harassing owls and other raptors as a defense strategy. Owls prey on eggs, nestlings, and even adult Blue Jays. Harassing the owls, often as a group (or mob), can be an effective deterrent.

📸: Kristen Cooney

Last May, a group of Natural Lands donors and volunteers enjoyed an exclusive tour of Glades Wildlife Refuge, including ...
05/18/2026

Last May, a group of Natural Lands donors and volunteers enjoyed an exclusive tour of Glades Wildlife Refuge, including a visit to Raybin’s Beach where, every spring, thousands of Red Knots land to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. These migratory shorebirds travel an astonishing 20,000 miles annually between the Arctic and South America. Without this important refueling layover along the Delaware Bayshore, they would not survive the journey.

Participant Mike Niven snapped this photo of a Red Knot and, when looking at his photos later, noted the bands on both legs. Natural Lands staff submitted the band numbers to the U.S. Geological Survey and learned this bird was banded 11 years earlier and is estimated to be 13 years old. The average lifespan of a Red Knot is between three and five years.

The math would suggest that this individual bird has migrated about a quarter of a million miles in its lifetime, roughly equivalent to the distance between Earth and the Moon. We’re proud that he—or she—fit in a visit to a Natural Lands preserve. By protecting the tidal shoreline it depends on, Natural Lands is ensuring that this bird and others like it can thrive.

📸: Mike Niven, Bill Moses

We get a lot of calls this time of year from folks just trying to help. Sometimes, nature just needs to nature. But for ...
05/12/2026

We get a lot of calls this time of year from folks just trying to help. Sometimes, nature just needs to nature. But for the critters that do need a helping hand, we recommend reaching out to the following wildlife rehabilitation centers and clinics:

Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center
215-249-1938
📍 Chalfont, PA

Diamond Rock Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic
610-240-0883
📍 Malvern, PA

Philadelphia Metro Wildlife Center
267-416-9453
📍 Norristown, PA

Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
215-482-7300 x2
📍 Philadelphia, PA

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc.
(302) 737-9543
📍 Newark, DE

Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge
856-983-3329 x107
📍 Medford, NJ

Many, many thanks to the professionals (heroes) at these facilities who give so much of themselves to helping the helpless ♥️

If you do handle baby critters, please always make sure you are wearing gloves and have the proper protection! But really, that baby bird home alone for the first time on your back porch is probably fine 😊

Address

Hildacy Preserve, 1031 Palmers Mill Road
Media, PA
19063

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Natural Lands posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category