Wildlife 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.

‘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.

A Hole in Our Map?

Take a quick peek at the map. What do you see? Or, more importantly, what don’t you see?

While I love riddles and trick questions, this isn’t one. There is an explanation.

The image displays levels of light pollution on the East Coast. The brighter the color, you guessed it, the more light. You will notice there is a “hole”.

Take a look at cell phone coverage maps. There it is again.

Road maps? Yup, you guessed it, same thing.

We Are In a Hole…Sort of
Opossum Creek Retreat is on the south-western edge of the “hole” you see in the maps. We spend a lot of family time inside the void, for good reason. While the maps and images may lead you to believe there is nothing there, in fact, it is full of things to do and discover.

The Monongahela National Forest
West Virginia has plenty of public lands, more than 1.5 million acres, with The Monongahela National Forest taking-up close to a million acres alone. Just about anything you can think of to do outside, can be done within the Mon boundaries.

825 miles of trails
576 miles of trout stream
8 Wilderness areas encompassing almost 100,000 acres
75 different tree species exist in the forest
Elevation ranges from 1000′ – 4863′ above sea level

Nearby Favorite
Located about 45 minutes from our cabin rentals is ‘The Cranberry’. Near the National Forest’s southern boundary, a visit to The Cranberry is like venturing to another latitude. Literally.

Red Admiral Butterfly enjoying the late summer wild flowers in The Cranberry Backcountry

This area is the southernmost hold-out from the Great Ice Age of the Pleistocene. The result? It’s like going to the Canadian tundra, without a border crossing, or Loonies, or anyone ending sentences with “A”.

The plants and animals you might encounter along the Botanical Area boardwalk are from the great white north. Red Crossbills (a bird I have yet to see), Canada Warblers, Skunk Cabbage wild flowers and trees, are all normally only found much further north.

Bears & Scenic Drives
Black Bears are beautiful, graceful creatures. They are plentiful in and around The Cranberry, in fact we see one on almost every trip over. However, don’t let that stop you from making the trek, make it a reason to go!

Be sure to stop in the visitor center (a great one) for a map, some books, great exhibits and modern facilities. Then take a trip across the Highland Scenic Highway for a “Sunday Drive” to remember.

There is so much to do while you are in the “hole”, we couldn’t possibly share it all in one post. After your next trip, be sure to share the photos.

What is your favorite thing about The Mon?

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.

5 Good Reasons To Take A Retreat To The New River Gorge

Whether you’ve been here before or it’s your first trip, the New River Gorge is “that place”- the vacation that you’ll be talking about for.. well, ’till you keel over and die. Probably. Just sayin’.

Doesn't Geoff look like the perfect person to rent a cabin from?

How do I know? I’m a rental cabin expert. But I haven’t always been one…

My wife Tammi and I met in Florida, where I lived in the late 80’s. I’m originally from Pennsylvania, and she’s from right here in the New River Gorge area. When she brought me home to meet the folks the area began to woo me. For several years we traveled here to visit friends and family, and every visit made me feel like I was coming home. The folks here are friendly and most will go out of their way to assure your visit is a great one. That’s right- it’s so true, it’s in bold. Italicized. And, it happens to be reason #1.

That works, right? The 5 reasons are in bold letters and italics? Cool? Okay…

On one trip I talked several of my buddies into coming up to run the River for a few days and do some fishing. Tammi hooked us up with a river guide friend to take us on our four day river adventure. I didn’t know it then but from that point on I was hooked. Two years later I was a resident West-by-god-Virginian.

One of the things that never fails to take my breath away is the fact that there are so many great views in one place. Whether you’re at the end of Long-point Trail (my favorite hike in the New River Gorge National Park) or at Hawk’s Nest State Park, there is an amazing sight to see. I’ve been here now for eighteen years and still find new views that thrill my soul. While being at the top of the gorge looking down is what most people consider a view, it’s equally impressive looking up from the bottom.

If you keep your eyes open you’ll get a peek at some of the local fauna that lives here. They could be hidden anywhere. A word of caution; Beware of the Mad Beaver! There’s great wildlife for your viewing pleasure all over the place. You may be privileged to see anything from black bear to flying squirrels. The New River Gorge is also a great place to catch a glimpse of the secretive neo tropical flying migrants (wood warblers and such) as they pass through.

Nature at its best – Around here there are tons of opportunity to just get out and explore. This place is a naturalists dream. There are wildflowers, warblers, fungi and more. Fayette County West Virginia is one of the few places on the state that you will find the Painted Trillium. A beautiful wildflower introduced to me by my botanist friend and naturalist Jim McCormac.

Here I have experienced nature at its best. When I first came here, the friendly folks, wildlife and natural aspects of the area far exceeded my expectations. The outdoor opportunities are unmatched by almost anywhere I’ve ever been. Most of the folks I run in to who are here for the first time seem to have one thing to say: “This place is better than I could have ever imagined.”

How true that is.