Willisbrook Preserve

Willisbrook Preserve Willisbrook Preserve is a 126-acre mix of woods and meadows, including more than 20 acres of a rare ecosystem known as the Sugartown Serpentine Barrens.

See our website for more information including our history, a trail map, and hours of operation. Willisbrook Preserve is a mix of woods and grassland meadows, including just over 20 acres of a rare ecosystem known as the Sugartown Serpentine Barrens. These barrens support a variety of plant species, many of which are threatened or endangered. Willisbrook Preserve was gifted to Natural Lands in 196

3 by Jane Gordon Coxe Fletcher, whose family is best known for breeding champion Hackney and American Saddlebred horses. Additional acquisitions in 1968 and 2004 expanded the preserve to its present size. Willisbrook Preserve is owned and managed by non-profit conservation organization Natural Lands. Learn more at www.natlands.org.

A songbird like the Wood Thrush requires 10 to 15 times as much calcium to lay a clutch of eggs as a similar size mammal...
06/05/2026

A songbird like the Wood Thrush requires 10 to 15 times as much calcium to lay a clutch of eggs as a similar size mammal needs to nurture its young. That makes calcium-rich food supplements like snail shells crucial to successful breeding. These are rare in soils subject to acid rain, which may help explain patterns of population decline in the Wood Thrush.

📸: David Brandes

Cedar Waxwings with orange instead of yellow tail tips began appearing in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada ...
05/29/2026

Cedar Waxwings with orange instead of yellow tail tips began appearing in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada in the 1960s. The orange color is the result of a red pigment picked up from the berries of an introduced species of honeysuckle. If a waxwing eats enough of the berries while it is growing a tail feather, the tip of the feather will be orange.

📸: Gina Hesh

Though often called a "tulip poplar" or "yellow poplar" due to its straight, poplar-like growth, the tuliptree (Lirioden...
05/22/2026

Though often called a "tulip poplar" or "yellow poplar" due to its straight, poplar-like growth, the tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is actually a member of the magnolia family, not the poplar family.

📸: Kristen Cooney

The color of Eastern Bluebird eggs is one of life's greatest joys. But, did you know, white eggs can occur? A female tha...
05/15/2026

The color of Eastern Bluebird eggs is one of life's greatest joys. But, did you know, white eggs can occur? A female that lays white eggs will do so all her life. The presumption is that she had an infection in her oviduct that impacted her ability to add pigment to the egg shells.

📸: Caleb Arrowood

Did you know a chipmunk can carry more than 165 acorns in a day, stuff its cheeks to three times the size of its head, a...
05/08/2026

Did you know a chipmunk can carry more than 165 acorns in a day, stuff its cheeks to three times the size of its head, and dig burrows up to 30 feet long? Oh, and they're cute, too.

📸: Kristen Cooney

Eastern Bluebirds typically have more than one successful brood per year. Young produced in early nests usually leave th...
04/29/2026

Eastern Bluebirds typically have more than one successful brood per year. Young produced in early nests usually leave their parents in summer, but young from later nests frequently stay with their parents over the winter.

📸: Mike Maher

The scientific name of moss phlox, "Phlox subulata," translates to "flame with awl-shaped leaves," referring to the plan...
04/22/2026

The scientific name of moss phlox, "Phlox subulata," translates to "flame with awl-shaped leaves," referring to the plant's needle-like leaves.

📸: Jarrod Shull

A pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers can build up to seven nests in a breeding season. They often re-use nest material from ...
04/15/2026

A pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers can build up to seven nests in a breeding season. They often re-use nest material from previous nests, which speeds re-nesting. This can be essential to breeding success, since predation, nest parasitism, or mite infestations frequently cause nest loss and brood failure.

📸: John McNamara

What spring ephemerals have you spotted so far this season?📸: Erin Smith
04/08/2026

What spring ephemerals have you spotted so far this season?

📸: Erin Smith

Did you know that frogs don’t drink water? Instead, they absorb it through their skin. Because of their sponge-like skin...
03/27/2026

Did you know that frogs don’t drink water? Instead, they absorb it through their skin. Because of their sponge-like skin, these critters can be easily poisoned by pollution. A pond full of frogs means the water is clean and healthy.

📸: Randy Richard

Address

137 Line Road
Malvern, PA
19355

Telephone

+16103535587

Website

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