Blue Ridge Birders
Welcome to the Blue Ridge Birders webpage. We are a group of birders dedicated to exploring birds of the Southern Blue Ridge and nearby areas of the Piedmont and Ridge and Valley. Throughout the year we have field trips, informative programs, and youth camps that expand interest in birding. We also are stewards for our regional birdlife by participating in citizen science projects like The Hawk Watch Association of North America’s Mahogany Rock Hawk Watch and Audubon's Christmas Bird Counts. Become a member of Blue Ridge Birders by joining our Google Group. Currently, there are no membership dues, but we encourage participants to become members of Blue Ridge Discovery Center.
Links
Listserv
Upcoming Events
September 2023
BRB will host a bird walk this Saturday along the New River to see some fall neo-tropical migrants (warblers).
Meet at the Cox's Chapel Low Water Bridge (Bridle Creek Boat Launch) at 8:00 AM sharp. There is ample parking at the boat ramp. From there, we will do some walking. Bring water and snacks, a light jacket and your binoculars.
Guides will be Scott Jackson-Ricketts, Rick Cavey and/or Allen Boynton.
History of Blue Ridge Birders
When NC Conservationist of the Year James Coman helped organize Blue Ridge Birders (BRB) in 1997, he sought to capitalize on what Roger Tory Peterson celebrated when he said, “Birds are the most vibrant expression of the natural world.” His founding goals for the club were “First and foremost, provide enjoyment to the participants; increase the bird skills of the members; provide better communication with the local birding community and with two statewide organizations (the Carolina Bird Club and the Virginia Society of Ornithology); and increase the appreciation of the local birdlife with the public through educational outreach.”
James had already established three contiguous Christmas Bird Count circles in the Blue Ridge/New River area and supported the Mahogany Rock Hawk Watch on the Blue Ridge Parkway (gathering data on raptor migration since 1984) which now came under the care of the Blue Ridge Birders.
Efforts by James and the Blue Ridge Birders led to the establishment of Bullhead State Natural Area, adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the site of a second Hawk Count run by Blue Ridge Birders two miles north of the Mahogany Rock Hawk Count. “Peregrine Pete” Zwadyk helped to keep a spring Bullhead Count along with Jim Keighton and facilitated a late-in-the-season Mahogany Rock Count.
Blue Ridge Birders hosted a fall meeting of the Carolina Bird Club in 1998, under the direction of James Coman and with the help of many club members that led field trips or hosted at the hawk watch.
From early on, BRB field trips to local hotspots, like New River, Whitetop Mountain, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Burkes Garden, South Holston River and Dam, the Outer Banks, Huntington Beach, and Hiwassee Refuge were led by club members such as Allen Boynton, Harrol Blevins, Glen Eller, Scott Jackson-Ricketts, Lynda Ralston and Bob Perkins, among others.
In 2003, Harrol Blevins established a Blue Ridge Birders listserv to facilitate communications about interesting bird sightings by club members in the Blue Ridge/New River region, which had grown to more than 150 participants, many of whom just wanted to keep in touch with the club from afar. A second club listserv devoted to broader natural sightings than just birds was established by Bill Perkins. Both of those listservs are now defunct due to changes in the companies that hosted them.
Blue Ridge Birders believes that people learn to value the natural world at a young age through positive experiences with naturalist role models who love children. Club members have worked with schools and with Girl Scouts of America to help young people experience the natural beauty and history of our region. From the bird/butterfly garden James Coman helped Sparta Elementary School build; to the programs at Bridle Creek Elementary School in Independence, VA and Mountain View Elementary School in Jefferson, NC; to the earth science classes from Alleghany High School visiting the hawk watch to learn how geology influences bird migration; the club helped build appreciation and understanding of birds in our natural world.
Among all this, Blue Ridge Birders contracted to “Adopt-a-Highway,” a 2-mile stretch of Bullhead Road which, for half its length, parallels the parkway on Blue Ridge Parkway property. One club clean-up was featured on television to promote the North Carolina Adopt-A-Highway program.
While we have lost some of our principle champions of birding, we look to new members to carry on the ambitious history of this mountain bird club. In 2016, Blue Ridge Birders allied itself with Blue Ridge Discovery Center, an organization that shares the values and goals of our membership. It is our hope that Blue Ridge Birders can achieve its long-standing goal of attracting and mentoring new birders through our alliance with Blue Ridge Discovery Center.
~ By Jim Keighton (updated by Allen Boynton)
