Join the Blue Ridge Discovery Center Explorer's Club on an exploration of the avifauna of Burke's Garden!
Burke's Garden is a rare valley bowl with a floor that rests at 3,000' while the encircling ridge rises to around 4,000ft. It is located in Bland County, VA where the Appalachian Trail skirts it's southern rim. The 8.5 mile long and 4 mile wide valley is often referred to as "God's Thumbprint" for it's distinctive shape.
The bowl is a beautiful pastoral landscape during the summer but in the winter it is equally impressive. During February it plays host to the rare wintering birds from the far north including the Golden Eagle and Rough-legged Hawk. We will be car pooling to the valley where we will enter through the water gap along the North rim. Once in the valley we will slowly work our way around the valley in a large loop searching for birds along the way. With a little luck we will have the opportunity to put scopes on multiple raptors on the tree lines or soaring about the farm fields. It also houses the regionally uncommon Red-headed Woodpecker.
Email cynthia@blueridgediscoverycenter.org for details.
A potential February bird list for Burke's Garden includes:
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Wild Turkey
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Golden Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow