birdnerds Archives - Opossum Creek Retreat

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.

Bird Nerds Descend On West Virginia (And I Love It)

They came. They saw. They birded.

And they were like a flock wreaking havoc. Lucky us.

Hundreds of Birding and Nature enthusiasts swarmed over The New River Gorge in West Virginia last week (my home sweet home). They were traversing the areas rural roads by the bus load, searching out rare and elusive species of Birds and plants to add to their “life lists”. People crossed borders (legally) to join the mayhem, and some flew almost as far as the birds did to get here.

With several groups arriving from as far away as California and Washington State on the West Coast, Canada to the north and Alabama to the south. That’s almost (but not quite) as far as some of the birds for the fest traveled.

It all gets captured in the look on the face of bear hunters, when they come flying around the corner and see a bunch of people in the road looking thru binoculars into the tree tops. That’s what this blog needs a picture of. Once they got there 4 wheeler under control and asked a few questions like:

Are you lost?
Did your bus breakdown?
Just what exactly are you all looking at?

The Local Bear Hunters offer up advice on back roads and secret spots for hunting Mushrooms. It’s strange to see so many people out in these parts, but we like a lot of the same things. That’s why it’s a festival, I guess.

“We simply love it when those bird people show up. They spend lots of money! And, y’know, they’re great people, too,” a local business owner told me. “They had to start calling ahead because we are not ready for a flock of people all at once this time of year [Ha! Flock. Get it?]. They make our week.”

And that’s one of the big reasons we started this event. We wanted to help fill up some otherwise slow time in our tourism calendar. Plus it truly is world class birding and botany. Plus, it’s as much fun as I have all year. Plus, most of the folks that come feel the same way.

Next year will be the ninth year for the event and organizers are already at work to make it better than ever. We felt it needed to be a sustainable event, something that could outlive us. We’re not there yet but it’s getting better and better each year.

But don’t take my word for it (actually, though, you should. I’m an expert on my own opinions, usually). Here’s the word on the New River Bird And Nature Fest from around the interwebs:

Here’s what our friend Vickie Henderson had to say about waterfalls and warblers.
Guide Jeffrey Gordon talks about the Swainson’s Warbler at the festival.
The awesome Bill Thompson III aka Bill of the Birds talks about why he always comes back to the New River at his Bird Watcher’s Digest blog.
Here’s the rundown for learning to see a bird at littleorangeguy’s blog.
There’s an awesome photo essay at Mark S. Garland’s blog.
Julie Zickefoose gives us a mention on her blog post about Chet, the New River Birding And Nature Fest’s unofficial (official?) greeter.
Susan Williams takes another step to break birder stereotypes (and succeeds).
Finally, Bill Hilton Jr. gives a rundown on why we’re one of Birdwatcher’s Digest top events.

Did we miss anyone? Please, add a link in the comments if so. And, yeah, it sounds pretty cool, huh? It was.

If you want to put it on your calendar for next year (and you should), here’s where you can find us on facebook. Until then, see you in the woods.

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.