The New River Birding and Nature Festival

Birding by Butt

Offered Monday of Festival week for our week-long guests and those here for the first half of the week, and Thursday for those coming in at week’s end, Birding by Butt is yet another unique part of the New River Birding and Nature Festival. An opportunity to meet other festival participants, spend quality time with our well-known and respected field guides, the setting is best described as laid back while the birding is most often described as spectacular.

Imagine sipping a hot cup of coffee on the porch at Opossum Creek Retreat and being treated to the song and fiery looks of a Blackburnian Warbler – not an occurrence that happens every year, but certainly one that has happened more than once. Hooded Warbler, Black-and-White, and Northern Parula are in abundance here and with plenty of spotting scopes and well-trained eyes on hand, many of our guests find themselves seeing the birds often enough that they turn from identification to watching for behaviors.

Known for our great food, New River Birding and Nature Festival table fair is at its absolute best on Birding by Butt days as Cathedral Café’s own Wendy Bayes provides a breakfast buffet that includes salmon quiche, homemade flap jacks and more. Its hard to save room but Wendy cooks lunch for us today too.

Data Collection, Banding and Day of Service

In 2008, organizers of the New River Birding & Nature Festival teamed with the Fayette County Urban Renewal Authority to develop the New River Birding & Nature Center at Wolf Creek Park. A unique 1,000-acre mixed use development Wolf Creek has set aside hundreds of acres for trail development, nature study, wetlands preservation and the crowning jewel – the as-yet un-built Birding & Nature Center. Since that time, the property has been used to deliver hands-on nature study programs through monthly community forums.

This program will allow Festival participants to assist in collecting data – particularly in regard to bird and plant species making use of the property. This will be done in conjunction with Nature Center Consulting Director Bill Hilton, Jr. who will band birds, lead hikes and send participants off to take notes and digital photos of things they see. Hilton will be assisted by other Center staff. The banding, which will include hummingbirds as well as typical songbirds, is designed as a learning experience for all participants and will teach not only the “how and why” of banding, but also how to use field marks for identification purposes.

As an additional component of the program, participants will learn how to build bluebird boxes – boxes which they can purchase for a nominal fee and bring home, or donate to the Center for placement on the property.

Sugar Creek

This trip was added to the New River Birding Festival itinerary in 2005 and continues to receive rave reviews. It is a short drive and a very birdie route. Descending from a high ridge separating the New and Gauley rivers, Sugar Creek provides the unique experience of exploring high, mid-level and river level territories all in the same trip.

While recent and on-going timbering has fragmented the habitat, edge species have thrived while deciduous nesters have still managed to stake out enough territory so as to remain in abundance. Birds commonly seen on this trip include Cerulean Warbler (in fact, the highest concentrations we have yet seen of Cerulean in our region turned up here in 2007), Yellow and Black-Billed Cuckoo, Scarlet Tanager, Black-Throated Green Warbler, Ovenbird, Worm-Eating Warbler, Baltimore Oriole and Orchard Oriole.

Breakfast is at Burnwood 6 AM.

Lunch - overlook at Hawks Nest.

Bird Behavior Hike

This four-mile hike puts participants in the midst of New River Gorge National River, a sprawling 47,000-acre unit of the National Park Service. Utilizing the Long Point Trail, we take participants out to one of the most breath-taking views in the park as we peer down some 650-feet to the river below. Along the way we work our way through nesting grounds for a wide range of species, including black-throated green warbler, black-and-white warbler, blue-headed vireo, scarlet tanager and rose-breasted grosbeak.

Among the many interesting facets of this trip will be the opportunity to view nesting and courtship behaviors. When presented with the opportunity, guides will spend extra time talking about and pointing out how different calls are used by birds in setting up territorial boundaries.

While not a rigorous hike in terms of topography, the surface is rocky and uneven on portions of the trail. Modern facilities are not available once we depart from breakfast until we return in mid-afternoon. Each participant will be provided with a zip-lock containing their lunch.

Kanawha Falls to Burnwood

Following a hot breakfast at Burnwood, a 45 minute drive takes you to Kanawha Falls, the area's best site for waterfowl. After probng the river for the like of hooded merganser, pied-billed grebe ring necked duck, and cliff swallows, start back up the mountain to seek out mid-level passerines.
A stop at Fayette County Park takes you to one of the county's best spot, for red headed woodpecker, pileated, downey, hairy and eastern flicker.

Finish with lunch at Burnwood where the day began.

Mountaintop Adventure

Utilizing the 1,500-acre ACE Adventure Resort property, this trip descends from ridge to river, dropping some 900-feet in elevation along the way. Starting at the ACE base we will immediately go on the lookout for cerulean warbler, bay-breasted warbler and blackpoll warbler while eventually winding up at river level searching for Baltimore Oriole, yellow-throated warbler and Louisiana waterthrush.

The ACE property is the site of one of our most memorable Festival moments – when a long-time guest ended her lifelong search for cerulean warbler as we called the bird in to just a few feet away. The tears of joy hang with us today and are a constant reminder of what we love about hosting this event.

Featured on the Travel Channel, ACE combines high-density usage of the property with conservation of large wooded tracts, making this territory a reminder of how development can be done without destroying important habitat.

Canopy Tour

Start your day with a hot breakfast at Burnwood before carpooling to ground school.
Eastern Wood-Pewee, ovenbird and hooded warbler are just a few of the expected species, while you learn the basics of zipping through the canopy. Ten zip lines, some swinging bridges and a short hike puts you in the midst of a deciduous forest teaming with birds.

When our guides had their first experience in the canopy they came face-to-face with black burnian warblers and scarlet tanager, while looking down on swainson's warbler. In 2010, one of the trips came face-to-face with a juvenile bald eagle. But, make no mistake about it, this is an adventure experience first - the birds just add to the day's excitement and to the glory of being in the trees.

Note: The Canopy Tour trip is limited to 8 people per day and costs an extra $100/person.

Burnwood to Babcock

After years of tying this into our High Country trip, we have split this remarkable territory off into its own stand-alone outing.
Babcock is teaming with warblers and vireos, and it offers some of the best opportunities for Black-Throated Green Warblers, Swainson's Warblers and Blue-headed Vireos. And due to the trail along the Mann's Creek Canyon, most of these birds are seen at or near eye level.

After lunch at Babcock, return to Burnwood around 2pm.

High Country

The High Country has been a staple of the New River Birding Festival program since the event’s inception. Due to altitude and topography the High Country is not only a migrant trap but it also the area’s last territory to come into full foliage leaving participants excellent views of warblers and other resident and migrant species.

The trip traditionally starts with a stop at the county’s only breeding ground for Bobolink, a gated field which the owner allows the Festival guests to access. As we explore along the Glade Creek Road, birds normally encountered include Golden-Winged Warbler, Canada warbler, Black-Throated Green, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut Sided Warbler, Indigo Bunting and more. In fact, some species counts for this trip in the past have been in the low 90's.

Breakfast is at Burnwood 6 AM.

Plan on an initial bus ride of at least 45 minutes.

*Trip note: Friday May 6, this trip will stay in the field all day, have a restaurant dinner, and return at 8 pm. To extend the day, we will visit several local hotspots not traditionally included on this route. Selecting this trip adds $40 per person to the base price.

Muddelty Strips

Described by Leica field representative Jeff Gordon as “the birdiest habitat in the Appalachians”, the old Muddlety strip mines offer the areas very best opportunity to see Blue-Winged Warbler, and maybe someday, the hybridized Brewster’s Warbler (a Blue-Winged and Golden-Winged mix).

In 2007, visitors who made this trip and the Sugar Creek trip staples of their Festival itinerary saw more Cerulean Warblers than – as one experienced guest put it – “I’d seen in my 40 years of birding combined.”

The trip entails traveling up an old logging road as far as the van will go with stops along the way, then a short hike to the Largest Poplar Tree in the state. This grassy overgrown strip area is favored by Blue-Winged Warblers. However, this should not be construed as a specialty trip. In year's past, participants averaged 70-plus species per trip.

Breakfast is at Burnwood 6 AM Lunch is served in the field with no modern conveniences until we are in route back to Burnwood for our 3 PM (ish) finish.

Plan on an initial bus ride of at least 45 minutes.

Cranberry Glades

This trip features a scenic, 90-minute drive each way, “Well worth the drive” was the report from guests and guides alike, The trip is offered just twice during the week, so book it early. A remnant of the glacial age, Cranberry Glades is among West Virginia’s most unique eco-systems. A boardwalk through a botanical area is ripe with flora seen nowhere else in West Virginia. Also often seen on this trip are Black Bear. As an opportunity to take full advantage of this unique flora and fauna, we staff this trip with our best botanists.

Birds normally encountered on this trip include Black-Throated Blue Warbler, Black-Throated Green, Chestnut-Sided Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Waterthrush, Veery, Wood Thrush, Cerulean Warbler and Red Crossbill – a species not normally encountered elsewhere in the state.

Breakfast will be at Burnwood at 6 AM.

Following a Picnic Lunch at the U.S. Forest Service Visitor Center we will depart for the drive back to Burnwood arriving about 3 PM.

*Trip note: Thursday May 5, this trip will stay in the field all day, have a restaurant dinner, and return at 8 pm. To extend the day, we will visit several local hotspots not traditionally included on this route. Selecting this trip adds $40 per person to the base price.

Birding by Boat

Unique to the New River Birding and Nature Festival, the Birding by Boat option is offered only on Friday. Starting out just below the famed whitewater section of New River, the trip is a three-mile float through placid Hawks Nest Lake.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Indigo Bunting, Pileated Woodpecker and as many as seven species of birds of prey are potential sightings on this trip. Spotted Sandpiper, Louisiana Waterthrush, Wood Duck and Green Heron are also common on this float.

Breakfast at 6 AM at Burnwood.

Lunch is served when we get off the water at the base of Hawks Nest State Park.

Please note that it is important to have shoes you do not mind getting wet, sun screen and rain gear available for this trip.

Swainson’s Warbler

Located in the northern-most breeding ground of the Swainson’s Warbler, our area is home to one of the most dense populations of this prized bird anywhere in North America. Be forewarned if you sign up for this trip – the guides will not listen if you cue in on another species until everyone has had a good look at a Swainson’s. Even after we have that look, we will continue to visit Swainson’s habitat, just to listen to and learn the call and to allow participants to fully understand the skulking behavior which makes them so difficult to actually see.

If and when we do get the Swainson’s for all to see (so far we have a 100% success ratio over the four years we have been offering the trip), then and only then will we go in search of other species guests on the trip would like to target.