PHILADELPHIA — Like many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mike Weilbacher was itching to just get out and take long walks in natural areas, state parks, and preserves.
But unlike most, his trips became the core of a book: "Wild Philly," published recently by Timber Press.
The 366-page guidebook by Weilbacher, well-known in the area as director of the Schuylkill Environmental Education Center, contains 250 photographs and 25 maps. It includes chapters on the region's natural history, 101 of its most unique flora and fauna, and 25 field trips, as well as four bonus trips. The book has details on the city's history, native peoples, surrounding geology, forests, and threats to nature.
It joins Timber Press' growing list of Wild books, including guides for Los Angeles and Miami, with others scheduled in 2023 for Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Weilbacher, originally from Long Island, has been a naturalist and environmental educator for more than 40 years. He moved to Philadelphia in 1982 and says he "loved it so much I knew I was staying."
"Timber Press called me to see if I would be interested in writing the book," Weilbacher said. "I've been waiting for this kind of phone call my whole life, so I said, 'Yes, for God's sakes, yes.' I was very interested."
Weilbacher chatted with The Philadelphia Inquirer about his new book. Answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
— Q: Your list of hikes includes trips not only in Philly but throughout the region. How did you winnow them down?
— A: I wrote much of the book in 2020 to 2021. Each weekend, I would go on a couple of the walks that I was thinking of for the book and sort of test-drive them and see if they work out. It was great to do pandemic walks outside every weekend. I looked at Wild LA, and it had 25 walks. I thought, Well, let's make this harder. So we came up with 25 walks you should do here — but the right time of year to do them. I went out to each place at least twice and took lots of notes. We included eight counties in the area.
For example, you want to be at the Schuylkill Center in our ravine loop to see the spring wildflowers. There's trillium and trout lily. It's just a beautiful walk. And the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge is just an extraordinary place to be in the spring.
Or you want to walk along the Manayunk Canal in the summertime and see all the frogs and turtles lined up, along with herons and egrets who are trying to catch the frogs and fish.
There are lots of walks you might want to do in the fall, like the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust is great for golden rod and a color walk.
Winter is a great time for a walk in the Wissahickon Valley Park because you can see the rock outcroppings after leaves have fallen. And Woodford Cedar Run in Jersey is a great place if you want a nice pine forest in the winter because you're thinking about Christmas trees.
The beauty of the Philadelphia story is that there's just so much nature in and around the city.
— Q: How did you come up with such an extensive list of Philly-area wildlife?
— A: I worked with eight other naturalists from the region, and we came up with an interesting thought exercise: What are the 101 species that everybody should know if they live in the Philadelphia area? I got just great email conversations with the group about who's in, who's out. People were lobbying for more or fewer birds, more or fewer insects, or more or fewer trees.
— Q: You note the return of coyotes and other species as wildlife success stories, but what was the biggest surprise?
— A: The story of the beaver is just really wonderful. Beaver were among the first animals extirpated from Philadelphia. With colonial settlers trading with the Lenape, beavers disappeared in some areas in the 1600s. You had to go farther afield to even find beavers. So that they've come back is just remarkable. In fact, the very first walk in the book, Black Run Preserve in New Jersey, has a section, "Beavers Everywhere."
(The book notes that beaver pelts were "wildly coveted" for hats in Europe. One pelt was worth $4 in 1800, about $80 in today's value).
— Q: You've mentioned successes. What about threats?
— A: We know there are problems with climate change and invasive plants. But deer overbrowsing is a big threat. Too many deer are eating too many plants that there are species of birds that can't nest here because they can't find the middle layer of the forest, which has been overcome. Deer have taken out everything up to six feet. So the shrub layer is not what it once was. Birds nest in the shrub layer. I don't think people realize the impact deer have on the entire ecology of a forest.
