The National Audubon Society and the Philadelphia Outward Bound School joined forces to save and sustain a vital part of our natural heritage in a unique partnership. Their missions converge in the East Park section of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park - just blocks from the neighborhood of Strawberry Mansion - where a century-old abandoned reservoir has become a unique wildlife sanctuary and an important stopover location for birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway. 

The Discovery Center provides a public space for neighbors, Philadelphia Outward Bound School, and Audubon Mid-Atlantic to come together and co-create opportunities for Philadelphians to discover themselves in nature, practice leadership, and work toward a greener city for birds and people.

The Discovery Center is free and open 6 days a week. Stop by our Visitor Center to borrow a pair of binoculars, chat with staff about the birds of the Strawberry Mansion reservoir, and use the restroom before you head out to discover yourself in nature while walking our out and back trail partway around the reservoir. Discover native plants in our pollinator garden and learn about fresh water mussels on our water walk. Take your time, bring your friends and family and relax in nature- all with out leaving Philadelphia!

The Discovery Center is proud to host an art installation aimed at raising awareness around the dangers birds face as they migrate through our urban environment. The exhibit, designed and installed by Victoria Sindlinger, is titled 'Hope in the Night' and consists of 150 origami birds suspended within the Visitor Center lobby. Sindlinger - a 17 year old Philadelphian with a passion for nature - intends for the installation to elegantly memorialize the mass bird collision event that took place on October 2, 2020, when an estimated 1,500 birds died after colliding with glass buildings in Philadelphia on a single night.

Many birds collide with buildings each night throughout migration, however conditions on this particular night led to extraordinarily high numbers of fatalities. Birds cannot perceive transparent glass and are often confused and disoriented by reflections and windows lit from within at night. The tendency of many bird species to migrate at night makes them incredibly susceptible to fatal collisions with glass buildings in heavily built-up, urban environments.

This particular incident served as a catalyst in the formation of the joint Bird Safe Philly and Lights Out Philly initiatives. Bird Safe Philly is a partnership led by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Audubon Mid-Atlantic, Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, National Audubon Society, Valley Forge Audubon Society, and Wyncote Audubon Society. The partnership is designed to help protect native birds in the Philadelphia area from a variety of issues that can harm birds in urban areas, especially issues that can cause birds to collide with buildings and other human made structures. Through Bird Safe Philly, volunteers monitor routes throughout Center City Philadelphia during the spring and fall migration seasons, documenting and rescuing dead and injured birds and bringing attention to particularly problematic areas. The Lights Out Philly initiative works with building owners to turn off lights during peak migration hours when they pose the greatest threat to birds.