New River Birding and Nature Festival!

Too many days have passed since my last post. I thought I'd be able to make more posts this year, but travels and other activities have my web writing at an all-time low for recent times. It's not that I'm wanting for material - I've been tripping the shutter and seeing interesting organisms at a prolific clip.

The last week+ was occupied with the New River Birding & Nature Festival in Fayetteville, West Virginia. This region is one of the most scenic places in eastern North America, and one of the richest in biodiversity. I've been speaking at and leading trips for the festival for a dozen or so years now without missing a beat, and love each return visit. Check out the festival info RIGHT HERE, and consider adding it to your itinerary in 2018.

I take few photos during these sorts of events - I'm too preoccupied with helping everyone else find and see good stuff. In order to satisfy my photographic addiction, I usually tack on a day or two at one end or the other - or both - of the festival and go out and shoot cool stuff.

Following is a miniscule sampling of some of the things that we see and do during the New River Birding & Nature Festival.

A group descends a grassy knob high in the southern West Virginia mountains. This pasture is full of Bobolinks, and we were there to admire the aerial displays of courting males. As William Cullen Bryant penned in his poem Robert of Lincoln:

Merrily swinging on brier and weed,

Near to the nest of his little dame,

Over the mountain-side or mead,

Robert of Lincoln is telling his name:

Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink:

Snug and safe is that nest of ours,

Hidden among the summer flowers.

Chee, chee, chee.

We do not want for showy scenery. Interesting field trips radiate through the regions each day - the festival runs for six days, although it isn't necessary to attend the entire thing. This mountain brook was running high from an overnight shower.

Indigo Buntings, such as this day-glo male, are very common. Much rarer fare includes Golden-winged and Swainson's warblers. In all, we probably see about 150 species collectively over the course of the week.

A White-eyed Vireo gushes his song from a thicket: Pick up the beer, Check! We work hard to not only find and identify birds, but also learn about their habitats and ecology. Such efforts are aided by a world-class group of guides (not claiming membership in that category, myself :-).

While birds are nearly always prioritized - they can quickly fly away, after all - we ignore nearly nothing. A showy little Eastern Gartersnake such as this would surely be admired, and commented upon.

Some of the best botanical backdrops in the country form the stage for our forays. This treelet is a Flame Azalea, Rhododendron calendulaceum. It is nearly jarring to encounter one of these orange-flowered beauties in an otherwise still brown forest of early spring.

Pink Lady's-slippers, Cypripedium acaule, nearly never fail to elicit a reaction. While these beautiful orchids might be encountered almost anywhere we go, we've got a few honey holes on tap. The site where I made this image hosted over a hundred plants, all in a fairly small area of dry, rocky upland woods.

The plants, at least for those of us who know them, mean there is never a dull moment. If there is a rare lull in birding action, there is always things like this stunning Miterwort, Mitella diphylla, to ogle. Its tiny bloom resembles a snowflake.

This is the fruit of the Miterwort. Tiny glossy seeds sit loosely anchored in an open cup. The first rain drop to score a hit on the cup knocks the fruit to the forest floor. Splash dispersal. Once grounded, the seeds will probably be picked up and carted off by ants, and thus spread to new locales.

My favorite trips are those that venture high up the mountains and into Cranberry Glades Botanical Area. This year, one of my co-leaders was Mark Garland - orange hat, green shirt. Mark leads trips all over the globe, is a consummate naturalist, and epitomizes the quality of field trip leadership at this festival. There's a lot to point out at Cranberry Glades. This boreal relict harbors many birds that normally breed much further north, such as Canada Warbler and Winter Wren. And they don't call it a botanical area for nothing - the flora is diverse and stunning.

I hope you consider attending the New River Birding & Nature Festival next year.