birding Archives - Opossum Creek Retreat

We’re Your Free WV Wilderness Guides

Let us be your guide. (For free!)

Why should you put that kind of trust in us?

We have been guides, really, all over the world!

Geoff’s got guide experience in fishing, rafting and other adventures.

Geoff fishing. (He's a pro.) — Geoff’s got guide experience in fishing, rafting and other adventures.

Okay, the whole world is stretching it, but a big chunk of the Western Hemisphere is accurate.

From Montana’s ice cold waters and rugged back country, to the Grand Canyon, to the southernmost reaches of South America on rivers dammed long ago, to that narrow waist of Central America. Yes, raft guiding was very good to me. There was some fly fishing guiding, and there were some pack trips on horseback that took me to places I am sure no one has ever set foot. Keith and his family have led trips to the high plateaus of Peru building schools.

And we choose to make The New River Gorge our home.

Now, we don’t guide anymore, but we know the area well, and we do love to share our knowledge. Take advantage of our free info and ask us some questions! All guides love the sound of their own voice.

We have some fun and informative videos on Youtube that will really help you plan your vacation. Tours of town, trails and restaurants, to name a few.

We also show how to tell temperature based on rhododendron leaves, if you like that kind of thing.

If you visit our website, you will see full-day itineraries for almost every situation.

Let’s just say you want help with some questions about certain activities or the best time of year to come bird watching or to Girls Club. Okay, maybe we are not Girls Club experts, but… well, yes we are. At least the planning part.

Call us. We are good guides.

And did we mention it’s FREE?

A Big Thank You to All Who Were Part of the New River Birding and Nature Festival

We love to make our guests cry.

Wow, what a week! So much fun, so much hard work, so many people to thank.

Opossum Creek Retreat is the happy home of The New River Birding and Nature Festival.

For one week a year we entertain about 100 people a day, feeding them, taking them on birding and nature field trips, showing off our guides’ amazing talents with popcorn talks, evening presentations, and according to the participants, having lots of fun.

The Festival is one of our favorite times of year.

Here at OCR, we know “we” is a big word. The gargantuan “we” that makes this event happen behind the scenes are OSSUM!

From the breakfast at Burnwood in the AM to the lunches in the field (made with love by the early-rising ladies in the deli at Foodland) to the ACE adventures super-safe bus drivers that make it possible to criss-cross the New River Gorge Region as a group. Sharon, Cindy and the staff at the CVB put up with a lot over the course of the year. Pastor Ray Crook and the ladies of the ramps who feed a few lucky trips each year at the Danese Community Center.

Sherri at the NPS patiently reminds me, then re-answers the same questions I had last year as we fill out the National Park Service permit forms.

Spouses and friends all contribute in their own way, from jumping in and volunteering to stitching names on hats or keeping the home fires burning while we immerse ourselves in the week.

The landowners like Dave Ross of Dave’s Exxon who allows us to traipse onto his family’s fields and revel in the unexplainable song of the Bobolink.

I am surely missing some, like a bird I forgot to mention in all the excitement, but they are no less appreciated.

We’ve seen the birds countless times. What is amazing is when one of our guests, world famous authors, or guides sees the birds for the first time. At that moment everyone in the group can feel the wonder, awe and emotion wash over us. “We” all feel the joy.

Tears of joy are far too rare in this world. Those feelings are why we do this event.

Thank you to all our past and future guests. We are honored to share this festival with you.

I am not crying.

Why I Love the New River Birding and Nature Festival

Every spring here at Opossum Creek Retreat we host The New River Nature and Birding Festival. It has quickly become one of my favorite weeks of the year. The privilege of being a part of the festival has allowed me access to the amazingly diverse flora and fauna of the New River Gorge and surrounding areas. Each trip afield offers a new learning experience in all things nature.

There is something for everyone on the variety of field trips in and around the New River Gorge National Park. Here a Red Eft is adored by some of the folks on the Nuttalburg trail trip. This was a new trip for this year and will quickly become a favorite.

Getting a close up look at birds in hand is always a treat as Bill Hilton Jr., educator-naturalist extraordinaire puts on highly educational and fun banding demonstrations throughout the week. A female Canada Warbler was a first for her species here at OCR.

A great part of the the festival is its world class guides, a lot of whom are authors.I was able to identify this Moth, a Common Lytrosis (lytrosis unitaria) thanks to Seabrooke Leckie, author of the new Peterson field guide to Moths.

Just a few of the New River Birding and Nature Festival folks

The best part is introducing great folks from all over to the natural beauty of southern West Virginia, our home.

‘Birding By Butt’ and the New River Birding and Nature Festival

Well now that was a big week.

In fact, it was Opossum Creek Retreat’s biggest week of the year.

The New River Birding and Nature Festival just ended, and a good bit of the festival takes place here at OCR. Somewhere between 60-100 people a day get to enjoy our slice of almost heaven during the festival. During this event, people gather to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the New River Gorge.

We do not cook for many groups, but we will if it is the right fit. And this festival is. It’s all about happy people doing fun stuff, learning, and enjoying good food.

On Monday morning we got things going in a “back porch” kind of way with “Birding by Butt”.

We spent the day milling around the grounds, watching birds from the comfort of our lawn chairs (hence the name, “Birding by Butt”), in between feedings. This helps everyone get to know each other and settle into the routine of birding, eating, and listening to great presentations.

But you could say that Birding By Butt is a bit of a misnomer, because we do spend some time walking around the 20-some acres of Opossum Creek Retreat.

The day goes something like this:

People start rolling in about 6 AM and we have coffee and drinks ready. We get everyone checked in and give them a name tag and this spiel: “We will be taking walks and getting birds in the scopes and eating and watching Bill Hilton of Project Ruby Throat band a bird or two if we are lucky. There are plenty of chairs for you to bird by butt from, so get comfy and relax for a few minutes before we take a group for a walk.”

Of course everyone is too excited to sit down. They want to “go go go” and they soon hear, “My name is Jim McCormac” or “My name is Mark Garland” and “I will be leading a walk up the road. Who would like to join me?”. The routine of relaxing in the chairs around yard comes slower to some, but before long everyone has settled into the idea of Birding By Butt, just letting the birds come to them.

And they do.

During the rest of the week we come back to OCR after our field trips and have a ‘popcorn talk’. After that we have dinner, then the main attraction for the evening, another speaker or presentation.

It was great to look out the window and see folks sitting in chairs or just walking around looking up into the trees, smiling.

We also hosted the Roads Scholar group on Wednesday and Friday for the “Birding by Butt” routine. Keith and I also led field trips every day of the week (the best part of the week for us).

The New River Birding and Nature Festival is a great way to kick-start us out of winter season; we’d love more events like this to pour ourselves into. There is a price to pay for this much fun and we gladly pay it year after year.

By all accounts, the 10th Annual New River Birding and Nature Festival was the best one yet.

If you have a group you would like us to take care of for a week (or even just a couple of days), give us a call and let’s talk. We might even teach you how to bird by butt.

Top 10 Reasons The Bird Fest Rocks

Let me just say this: The New River Birding And Nature Festival is so much fun.

A lot of work, yes. But who cares? It’s totally worth it. If you’re here, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re not, you should be.

Here are 10 reasons why:

-The Food. Local restaurants help us out with the fare, and its hard to stay the same size this week.

-Walking In The Rain. It rains here. If you’re ready for it, it’s quit enjoyable, and bird friendly. (beautiful sunshine today, though!)

-Anticipation. We work on this festival all year. People who come look forward to it all year. Maybe that’s why it’s great when we finaly get to start birding.

-The Face Ache. You know, from smiling so much.

-The Presentations. Nothing like a little edification for some after dinner fun. The presentations are enjoyable, informative, and, hey, they aid digestion!

-Spring In The Forest. ‘Nuff said.

–ZIPLINE!

-Making People Happy. This one’s kind of a gimme, since, as a cabin rental guy, it’s what I try to do all the time. But still, you really can’t get to much.

-Great Conversations. I’ve, um, been known to talk. A lot. So it shouldn’t be any surprise to people that know me that this makes the list. I’ll just say that, during the fest, I find myself doing a lot more listening.

-New Friends And Old. Best thing about the fest, hands down. As I’ve said before, you don’t need birds to make a good day birding. It’s all about the people. Especially these people.

And lastly…

Making A Difference In Someone’s Life. It’s not me; it’s the whole thing. The people. The camaraderie. The New River Gorge. Oh, and the birds. Let’s not forget them. The fest makes people’s lives richer. Especially mine.

The Most Important Thing About Birding (Hint: It’s Not Birds)

The most important thing about a birding trip is not the birds. Really.

Here’s why: All kinds of things can influence the birds you see and hear. So let’s focus on stuff that really matters on a field trip: the people.

It’s like soup; too much of one ingredient is boring. I love time alone in the outdoors, to be sure, but being with a group of fellow bird nerds/naturalists when everyone gets a good look at a fun bird? And it’s a lifer for someone in the bunch? And everyone is smiling and giddy? You can’t help but be excited too.

The fun of birding in a group comes mostly from these moments. They’re contagious. People are dancing smiling laughing when they see something that’s -how can I put it- exotic for them. It’s fun to share these moments. Who you’re with is way more important than what you might see.

I’ve been on dozens of field trips under every type of circumstances, from research and banding to formal surveys and counts to paid private guided field trips. And with the most bizarre groups you can imagine. By far the best groups have beginners in them; If you go out with a bunch of really good birders it can get boring real fast. I think it’s because they all know every peep and who made it and why. There’s no give and take about what is going on around you.

Also sometimes I think they are afraid to say anything because they might (heaven forbid) make a mistake. I promise you if you are on a trip with me I will miss ID a bird at some point during the day, every day. And it’s usually something really obvious and easy like last year when I called a chirping Cardinal a Chat (this is a major bird nerd no-no). Everyone looked at me like I had lost my mind, and by that point in the week, I had.

But I’m not a hired gun. No degree. No life list (that’s another story). So maybe it’s okay for me to make mistakes. Personally I like to see the pros make a mistake once in a while it shows they are human too. Perfection is way overrated.

When you have a good field guide, and some beginners, and you mix them in with other levels of interest and experience, it’s more fun. Makes me smile just writing about it.

The most rewarding bird trips for me are when we’re giving back. You don’t have to be a great birder to be a ambassador for nature. You don’t have to be great at anything. “Showing is better than telling” a 4 year old told me, as I was talking too much to a school group I did a bird presentation for. She wanted more action.

I get really excited when out on a field trip and I see a new bird or bug or critter of some kind. Even plants. But when I see someone, young or old, really getting excited about what’s around them, maybe for the first time ever? That’s a wonderful feeling.

The New River Birding and Nature Festival sponsors hands-on learning experiences for local schools. These are the trips that give me the best feelings of all.

Share what you know, right?