The New River Birding and Nature Festival

Those who attend the New River Birding and Nature Festival find out in a hurry that three key components are at the very root of the experience we provide for our guests. Hospitality; field trips designed for the needs of the guest; promoting our area as a great place to live, learn, work and play; and being proactive in efforts to conserve the resources that bring colorful migrant birds our way each spring. These are the core values that drive our efforts to put on an event that is as good as it can be.

From our great food – you won’t find better at any birding event anywhere – to a sincere effort to make lifelong friends, the New River Birding and Nature Festival is - as Bill Thompson (editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest) describes it – “a down home, summer camp for birders where you never want to go home.” And when you do have to go everyone – from the hosts, to the guides, to the volunteers – leave you on a first-name basis with a heart-felt wish to see you again the following year.

Field trips with a maximum of 25 guests (many are just 10) and a minimum of two expert guides, send you off daily with a legitimate expectation of experiencing one of the best bird watching days you have ever had. No speeding busses going down the road with a guide ticking off the birds he/she hears, the New River Birding and Nature Festival prides itself in putting birds in the scope for as many of our guests as possible.

Getting out and seeing the lush countryside that is Southern West Virginia is provided for our guests on each and every trip. Experiencing rest in places like Cathedral Café, Opossum Creek Retreat, Country Road Cabins, ACE Adventure Resort, WV Adventure Resort, and Songer Whitewater clarifies the impression of a place we are proud to call home.

As a participant in a birding festival, you know the delicate balance that must be maintained to sustain the woodland habitat of the warblers and passerines that keynote our event. The organizers not only share that knowledge with our guests, but we go one step farther by providing the same kinds of information to students in our local schools. Thousands of these students have been delivered the message – in countless ways – that birds are not only fun to watch, but that this beautiful resource can be a part of their economic future so long as they strive to maintain it.

Dave, Geoff, Keith and all of the people associated with the New River Birding and Nature Festival have had the good fortune to be touched by all of the friendships that have been developed as an outgrowth of our event. For that very reason it is easy to keep a promise to you that we will do everything in our power to assure that the time and money you invest in joining us at the New River Nature & Birding Festival will deliver outstanding bird watching experiences and fond memories for a long time to come.