The world is thawing out, fauna is getting more active, and here at BRDC we are excited to get back out there and discover more with you! Read for info on our Winter Naturalist Rally, Woodcock Display Walk, Family Weekend, and Spring Break Camp.
Help Scientists by Collecting Data with the Great Backyard Bird Count
Winter Rally Re-Cap
BRDC takes on Burkes Garden!
Birding Adventures
Fall Rally Re-Cap!
February Events
As the temperatures cool down, Blue Ridge Discovery Center isn’t slowing down! With darkness settling in sooner in the evenings, we are entering the prime season for stargazing. And with trees and shrubs losing their foliage, the winter months allow for fewer visual obstructions during birdwatching, including sighting rare wintering birds from the far north. There’s something for everyone over the coming months. Join us! Click event titles for more information.
Upcoming Events
As the temperatures cool down, Blue Ridge Discovery Center isn’t slowing down! With darkness settling in sooner in the evenings, we are entering the prime season for stargazing. And with trees and shrubs losing their foliage, the winter months allow for fewer visual obstructions during birdwatching, including sighting rare wintering birds from the far north. There’s something for everyone over the coming months. Join us! Click event titles for more information.
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
Upcoming Events
As the temperatures cool down, Blue Ridge Discovery Center isn’t slowing down! With darkness settling in sooner in the evenings, we are entering the prime season for stargazing. And with trees and shrubs losing their foliage, the winter months allow for fewer visual obstructions during birdwatching, including sighting rare wintering birds from the far north. There’s something for everyone over the coming months. Join us! Click event titles for more information.
BRDC Receives VDGIF eStore Grant Award
BRDC is very excited to be a recipient of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries eStore Grant! This grant will provide vital material support for the programs we offer. As you all well know, birding and fly fishing are two subjects that inspired BRDC from the very beginning. This generous grant is going to boost these two programs to another level!
Birding Adventure in the High Country
6 kids went on a gravity-defying adventure in the high country participating in BRDC’s inaugural Ornithology Camp. For four days and three nights, the kids camped out and honed their ornithology skills, searching for bird species that inhabit the diverse appalachian ecosystems of southwest Virginia.
BRDC receives SWVA Outdoor Recreation Contract
We are excited to announce that Blue Ridge Discovery Center has been awarded the contract to provide web content for the SWVA Outdoors Website. This project is headed up by the Friends of Southwest Virginia and is an effort to highlight the awesome outdoor recreation opportunities our region has to offer.
Red-tailed Hawk Saved after Collision with Vehicle
On a chilly January day, local birder Cathy Spencer stopped by our office with news of an injured red-tailed hawk just up the highway. We frequently get calls for help from concerned citizens about injured animals. For many years we were able to connect them to local wildlife rehabilitators William and Joyce Roberts. With William's death this past summer, dedicated rehabilitator Darin Handy stepped forward to carry the torch. After consulting Darin, we grabbed a blanket and BRDC storage tub and headed out to find the bird.
The creation of an Ornithology Camp in honor of William Roberts
Blue Ridge Discovery Center, in gratitude and honor of our recently departed and most principled birder and outdoor enthusiast, would like to advance his contagious interest in birds, flight, majesty of raptors, seasonal surprises of migration, and his boundless curiosity.
We believe that the best way to share his love of birds is to create an Ornithology Camp supported by a scholarship fund in his name.
Wrapping up 2015 Bird Sleuth program at Grayson County High School
We had two working classes: Becky Absher’s ecology and Deb Greif’s/Kathy Davis' math analysis. Working with both classes from March through April, Blue Ridge Discovery Center focused on acquainting the students with local birds, their habitats and behavior. Starting in early March, we divided up our instruction time between in-class studies and outdoor walks behind the school. Through Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology curriculum, called Bird Sleuth, we watched a series of videos dedicated to the skills of bird id and natural history. Outside, along Stinky Creek, we set up a few bird feeders to draw in common feeder birds, giving us the opportunity to put our new-found skills to test.
A beautiful day at Hungry Mother State Park Birding Adventure Weekend!
BRDC set up shop at Hungry Mother State Park this past weekend where we shared our traveling booth of wonders with visitors. Area youth dissected owl pellets and studied raptor wings, skulls and talons. While tending our booth we got to scope birds on the lake including, pied-billed grebe, red-breasted mergansers and eastern kingbirds.
Bio Survey, Matthew's State Forest, March 30th, 2015
At long last, the Southwest Virginia Home Educators returned for another fun-filled day of exploration and discovery at the Matthews State Forest. Twelve children of a wide age range and four moms joined Evan Worrell and me (Scott Jackson-Ricketts), BRDC guides, for a five hour plot investigation. We dedicated the morning to bird identification realizing quite a data set once the sun came out.
Early Spring Migrants: Birds: Red-winged blackbird
Avian spring migrants come in two categories: Northbound birds and elevation transients or lateral migrators. The second group mostly consists of our high elevation breeders, such as dark-eyed juncos, that drop off the mountain tops for a few winter months in search of easier food, water and in some cases, shelter. Most of us, however, think of the distance travelers, when we talk about spring migration.
