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Virginia Outdoor Adventures: Hiking, Camping, Kayaking, Local Travel and more!
Birding in Virginia: A Guide to Virginia State Parks with Ranger Evan Spears (Ep 87, Part 2)
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A flash of color across a meadow. A flute-like melody sung from a nearby branch. A raptor soaring high above a mountain ridge. These small moments of discovery are what make birding one of the fastest-growing outdoor activities today.
Few places can match our incredible diversity of birdlife. From the tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird to the majestic Tundra Swan, Virginia is home to hundreds of bird species across a remarkable range of habitats.
I’m joined by Virginia State Parks ranger and avid birder, Evan Spears. We talk about why birding is helping so many people slow down, look closer, and connect with the outdoors in a whole new way. We’ll explore some of the best birding destinations across Virginia State Parks, share tips for getting started, and learn why spotting even a tiny bird can become a lifelong passion.
So grab your binoculars or just your curiosity - there's an entire world of wildlife waiting to be discovered. Let’s Go!
This is Part 2 of a two-part episode.
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Brian, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is a mecca for outdoor travel and adventure. Virginia Outdoor Adventures podcast is your local guide for hiking, camping, kayaking, travel, and so much more. Get the information and the inspiration to plan your own adventure right here in Virginia. I'm your host, Jessica Bowser. A flash of color across a meadow, a flute-like melody sung from a nearby branch, a raptor soaring high above a mountain ridge. These small moments of discovery are what make birding one of the fastest growing outdoor activities today. Few places can match our incredible diversity of bird life, from the tiny ruby-throated hummingbird to the majestic tundra swan. Virginia is home to hundreds of bird species across a remarkable range of habitats. I'm joined by Virginia State Parks ranger and avid birder Evan Spears. We talk about why birding is helping so many people slow down, look closer, and connect with the outdoors in a whole new way. We'll explore some of the best birding destinations across Virginia State Parks, share tips for getting started, and learn why spotting even a tiny bird can become a lifelong passion. So, grab your binoculars, or just your curiosity, there's an entire world of wildlife waiting to be discovered. Let's go. This is part two of a two-part episode. What makes Mason Neck famous for birding?
Even Spears:The park has a great view of some water habitat in the wintertime. It's a great time to go and look for winter waterfowl, so tons of ducks and mercanters come down from Canada in the winter, and they're kind of following food availability. It's really tough for them to stay on a frozen lake, so they're following kind of the freeze line as things get really icy up north, and some of these bays and stream heads off of the Potomac provide these kind of these little shelters and provide a really good opportunity to see some wide variety of waterfowl from dabblers, it's a great place to see some awesome winter birds. They also have tons of tundra swans. Have you been up to see the tundra swans before?
Jessica Bowser:Oh, yes, they are a crowd pleaser.
Even Spears:They're so big, they're just.. their swans are amazing large birds, and so to get to see them, even at a distance, is really amazing. Just to see hundreds of them at the time, kind of hanging out in the bay.
Jessica Bowser:Mason Neck makes a pretty big deal about their tundra swans. They have some ranger-led programs. A couple years ago, they did a really nice presentation where an expert came and talked about their migration route, and I think it's really incredible. All of these birds live up in the tundra in the summer, and then in the winter they literally cross North America and end up here in Virginia, and they come back to the same place year after year after year, and when you're walking down the trail towards the viewing location, you can start to hear that because they're really loud and they make this like really interesting sound, and you hear it like as you're approaching, and when you walk up, it's just like the water is covered in swans. It's really, really beautiful.
Even Spears:Any of the waterfowl that you get a chance to see in the wintertime, especially up close, is really exciting. The
Jessica Bowser:visitor center has some really nice scopes that you can use to look out over the bay, especially in the winter, we do a winter waterfowl count there every year, which is also for science, but there are hundreds, I mean, literally hundreds of birds swimming out in the bay in the winter, like they have these huge what they call rafts, right, of like let's say coots, and there might be like 100 or more coots all swimming together, and because the bald eagle population has bounced back in that area, it gets really exciting when an eagle swoops in and tries to grab a coot.
Even Spears:Yeah, in my area too, we pretty much didn't have that many bald eagles, like I said, you know, 20 years ago, and they definitely made a big comeback, but it does seem that the since coots are the favorite food one of the favorite foods of bald eagles? We don't see that many coots anymore, but I'm really happy that we've got some bald eagles back in the Farm Bill area.
Jessica Bowser:Yes, and we definitely have them back on the Mason Eck Peninsula. I mean, it's not uncommon to get out of your car and there might be one perch in a tree in the parking lot, and I watch people get so stoked about it, like I'm used to it at this point, but like, sometimes I'll get out of my car at the same time somebody else is, and they start freaking out because there's a bald eagle flying over their head, and it's.. it just brings me so much joy to see people get that excited about our wildlife.
Even Spears:Yeah, anytime I point out an eagle to someone, it's a good day.
Jessica Bowser:Yes, it really is. Spring adventures are calling, and the latest Virginia Outdoor Adventures merch is ready to come along with a fresh, bold, seasonal design. These ultra comfy hoodies and tees are perfect for life on the trail, around the campfire, or wherever you roam. Whether you're heading out for a hike, planning a weekend trip, or showing your love for Virginia's outdoors, this gear was made for you. Grab yours now, and join the community behind the podcast. Every purchase helps keep new episodes coming, so you can keep exploring. Find it by clicking on Shop the Virginia Outdoor Adventures merch store in your show notes. Let's move on to the Piedmont and central Virginia area. What are some great parks for birding there?
Even Spears:So this is where I live, and where I was raised, and kind of in the heart of Virginia. Here, some of my favorite, favorite parks are in this area. You and I got a chance to bird at Lake Anna State Park, which is just a little north of me, and it provides really great views of Lake Anna, of course, but then tons of trails that get you kind of some different looks of the lake and some of the different upland forest habitats of the park. Really amazing to bird there any time of year. Down closer to me, we have one of our newer parks, Powhatan State Park, and they're a bit different than a lot of our other parks, are you know mostly you know covered in forest or have a big lake, but Powhatan State Park is located along the James River, so you can, of course, see some, see some ospreys there occasionally, some some belted kingfishers, or maybe you'll see some double crested cormorants flying up the river, but the highlight for Powhatan are kind of these Piedmont prairies, they're really trying to restore the park back to possibly how it would have looked maybe several 100 years ago, or a few 1000 years ago, where it's a bit more open habitat that's managed by occasional fire, and it kind of looks messy at first glance when you drive into the park, but for a birder, this is prime habitat for prairie warblers and northern bobwhites and yellow breasted chats. This is some of the best birding in the Piedmont that you can get in these kind of big open kind of shrubby field habitats. And then moving really close to home, High Bridge Trail State Park is one of my favorites. You get a really amazing view of the Appomattox River, and you're actually, when you're on High Bridge itself, which is about 125 feet tall, you're actually above the tree tops, so you can actually sometimes, during certain times a year, when there's a lot of birds passing through, you can actually look down on these birds that are kind of moving through the trees, looking for food and singing, and it's a unique experience, because normally these are birds that we kind of strain our necks to see and look up for, and you're getting to kind of look down on them.
Jessica Bowser:I'm glad you mentioned Powhatan, because the restoration of those fields is really important for habitat for these birds, and when I think about those meadows, the first thing that comes to mind is American goldfinch and indigo bunting, and what it's like to stand there and just see these bright flashes of yellows and blues just sort of bolting past you in the fields.
Even Spears:It's really good to be preserving or and kind of enhancing that kind of habitat, because grassland birds have seen some of the sharpest declines in bird population numbers over the past several decades, so providing a place for these birds to come and raise a family. It's a really good feeling to get to see these birds thriving in those habitats.
Jessica Bowser:It is, and seeing them is really exciting. When you mentioned Bob White, I just got excited just thinking about Bob White. I've never seen one, because they like to hide, right, like down in the grasses, and they, they camouflage really well, but when you hear them call, they say their name, they say Bob White, and I was with another, yes, I was with the park manager at Powhatan, Ranger Amelia, we were backpacking together at Belle Isle State Park last spring, we were doing an episode about backpacking, and we're walking down the trail, and we heard Bob White, and we both froze, and we turned and looked at each other, and we started jumping up and down and squealing, because we were both so excited to hear that. You, you don't hear it that often, and when you do, you're like, oh my gosh, it's a Bob White,
Even Spears:that's awesome. Yeah, it's one of the best places to go to look and listen for Bob White. I
Jessica Bowser:don't know about you, but I have never understood the mummy sleeping bag. Sure, they're designed to be light and warm, but they're restrictive and uncomfortable. There's no ability to move around or regulate body temperature. Wouldn't it be great if sleeping outside could feel like sleeping in your bed at home, even while backpacking? If you agree, you'll be just as excited as I was when I learned about Zen Vivi, the world's first two-piece sleeping bag. The Zen Vivie sleep systems are built like your bed at home, a sheet below you and a quilt above. This design allows for. Most comfortable night's sleep in the backcountry without the constriction from traditional mummy bags. I just tried the brand new UL dirt bed, which is the sweet spot of ultralight performance and value. By balancing weight savings with value-driven materials, it offers the best bang for your buck in the ultralight category. The first feature I fell in love with was the super soft fabrics on both the inside and outside of the bed. The quill feels like it floats above me to give me complete freedom to move around during the night without feeling trapped. I love that the hood is integrated with the sheet to insulate my head and hold the pillow in place. I was also impressed with the unique design of the mattress. The offset air cells create a diagonal baffle pattern that causes the mattress to twist against your body's natural fold lines rather than collapse into them like horizontal and vertical baffles, resulting in a more supportive mattress. The UL dirtbed is available in an all-in-one complete bed bundle, which includes a UL dirtbed quilt, UL dirtbed sheet, an ultralight mattress with inflation storage sack, a two-piece minimalist pillow made up of an adjustable air bladder and pillow case, and a dry sack for waterproof storage. Zen Vivi beds come in different temperature ratings, sizes, weights, and fill options, so you can choose the bed that best fits your needs for camping, backpacking, and everything in between on your next adventure, sleep in a bed, not a bag. Discover the world's first hybrid sleeping bag by clicking on Zen Bivvy in the show notes of your listening app to visit zenbivvy.com Evan, tell me more about High Bridge Trail.
Even Spears:Another really cool feature of High Bridge, when you're walking out on the bridge itself, is there are some nesting common ravens. So, in the late winter and early spring, you may see some of the adults flying around the bridge and vocalizing pretty loudly, and pretty soon you'll see them start to carry some sticks and some nesting material back to kind of the eastern side of the bridge, and if you look down really carefully on one of the steel bridge trestles, you can see some of these past nests that they've used. Look carefully, and you will probably see there the nest they're working on, and after a few weeks, you'll see some eggs in the nest with an adult that's sitting on them, and eventually, before you know it, there'll be some, some raven chicks that are peeking their head out from the nest, and before you know it, they're learning to fly and getting fed by their parents, and then come come spring, they're already flying away, so it's really amazing to get to see some of these kind of this kind of high nesting bird that would normally be on cliffs in the mountains, kind of nesting in the Piedmont on a on a old train structure.
Jessica Bowser:Let's move on to the mountain and the Shenandoah Valley area. What are some parks there that we can visit?
Even Spears:Birding in the mountains really makes me think of Douthat State Park, one of our original six state parks that were opened in 1936 Dow Fit is kind of down in the valley up in the mountains of Virginia, and it has this little lake, but it's surrounded by these mountain ridges, so you get some really amazing birds up there. It's a really good place to go hiking, if you're into hiking and birding at the same time. They've got some really great mountain trails that can get you up to some of these really scenic overlooks. It's a really fun park in that same vein. Hungry Mother State Park, another one of our original six Virginia state parks, also offers some similar opportunities, but they've got a larger lake, some really amazing trails as well. Definitely, if you're looking for mountain birding, those are two parks I'd recommend. And finally, our highest elevation mountain park in Virginia is Grayson Highlands State Park. So, while they also have some of these high elevation forests, you all, they also have some open meadows as well, some high elevation meadows. You can actually park your car there at Massey Gap, and if you feel so inclined, walk through the park and all the way up to Mount Rogers, which is the highest point in Virginia.
Jessica Bowser:What mountain birds really excite visitors in these parks?
Even Spears:Yeah, so especially Grayson Highlands, where you have some of these high elevation spruce and fir force that really don't occur very frequently in Virginia. You get some of our winter birds in the state that actually get to nest in the summer up there, so red-breasted nuthatches, hermit thrushes are up there breeding. Definitely, you can keep an ear out for ruffed grouse, so ruffed grouse, they make this really amazing drumming noise that almost you almost feel it in your chest at first, you don't even realize it's a bird, but when you first feel it, you feel kind of this booming kind of echo through the through the mountain forest, and that's actually them kind of puffing up their chest and beating their wings on their chest and forming this really. Strange noise, that is really, really an experience.
Jessica Bowser:It reminds me of a bass that's echoing, like sometimes I'll be walking through the forest, and I hear it, and my first thought is somebody's blasting their car stereo somewhere, but it turns out it's a bird.
Even Spears:Yeah, it's definitely more rhythmic. Yeah, I recommend everyone get it, get a chance to hear rough grouse at least once.
Jessica Bowser:Yeah, they look like chickens. If you, I mean, it's very hard to ever see one, but if you're lucky enough to see one, it looks like a chicken walking around in the forest.
Even Spears:Yeah, they're they're wild and super secretive, but if you up some of these mountain parks, you got a chance, you got a chance of seeing one or hearing
Jessica Bowser:one. Okay, so what advice would you give someone who maybe feels a little bit intimidated by birding?
Even Spears:Definitely, this time of year, when you go outside, you'll hear this kind of cacophony of bird sounds, and that can be really frustrating to a lot of people, but the best thing to do is to start simple, go birding with some other people who know your area really well, or when you're birding by yourself, use that Merlin app, and as you're walking through a habitat, just hit record on the Merlin app and see if you can pick up on the bird sounds that it's also picking up on. So that's a good way to kind of get into birding, kind of if you haven't done it too much before, learning some of your common what we call kind of backyard birds first is a good way to then discern that you know other birds that aren't those birds, so Northern Cardinals, American Robin, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina wrens, blue jays, these are some of the birds you want to kind of start to learn and get to know really well first,
Jessica Bowser:and I think it's really important to mention that nobody's going to know every bird immediately, and it may take some time. I mean, it took me several years before I really started to feel comfortable enough that I could point things out to other people and share facts that I learned along the way, but it's a learning experience, and you grow the more you do it, and it gets easier and easier as you go.
Even Spears:Yeah, flipping through the bird book can, can be pretty daunting, and with a couple 100 species to eventually learn for Virginia that are just kind of our winter and summer residents, that can, that can be a challenge, but again, start small, pick a few first, pick a pick a bird a day to kind of look at and explore more, and go out and try to find it. These are going to be the best ways to start to learn more about birding in Virginia.
Jessica Bowser:I've always found it really helpful to go with other people, especially in a group, because then you learn from other people, but also when there's more people in a group, there's more ears and more eyes, so people are going to see and hear things that you miss, or they're going to be able to identify something that you can't much more quickly, so you get to see and hear a lot more. And luckily, Virginia State Parks have a lot of birding programs and events, so why don't we talk about some of those?
Even Spears:Yeah, we've got tons of free programs across the state at all of our parks, and a lot of those programs, a lot of parks offer birding programs. Some of these are just kind of our our guided bird walks. This is where you can go out into the park with a ranger, usually on a trail or walking around kind of the the picnic areas, and the range is going to help point out some of these, these birds that are common to their to their park. That's a real, another really good way to really get into birding. Another thing is we've got some different bird festivals. These are some things that happen throughout the year. Only at a few of our parks have these bigger birding events that are bird themed. Mason Neck has their Eagle Festival, which is, which actually is in early May. They've got bird walks, they've got you can look out over and see the eagles kind of soaring over the bay there. They also have some live music, and they've got some other presentations, and a lot of kid activities as well, too. But it's a great way to go and experience birds with some other people. We've also got a hungry mother state park, another kind of early to mid May experience, and a special event is the Life's Extras Birding Celebration. This is a lot of bird walks with rangers and experienced volunteer birders, but also you can do birding by kayak, which is, which is really exciting. And then also they've got some some other field trips that are nearby to some really cool habitats, we also just have other events that are happening throughout the year. In February, usually around the middle of the month, is the Great Backyard Bird Count. This happens all across the world, but a lot of our parks have these guided bird walks and bird activities that you can attend. Is in mid February, that's the time of year when a lot of our winter birds are preparing to start to migrate, and not, not many of our, our summer birds have come back yet, so it's a great time to get outside and go do some birding and some citizen science.
Jessica Bowser:Yes, I love that aspect of it, because not only do you get to bird, but you get to submit your sightings, and then all of that data gets analyzed by scientists, and they're able to track so much information about different populations and whether they're increasing or declining, and what their ranges are, and they find some really interesting things when they start to go over all this data, and you get to contribute to that, so it makes you feel important at the same time that you're having fun.
Even Spears:Citizen science is huge in the birding world right now, obviously, you know that the scientists can't get out everywhere and identify and look at all the birds across the world, but we have so many birders that are out there submitting this incredible data. When you're out and about, and you feel comfortable, submit, submit the data, submit the birds that you're seeing, so we can, so we can help those scientists understand where birds are across the planet,
Jessica Bowser:right? And all that data gets submitted through eBird. I don't think we even mentioned eBird, and it's probably a little more than people need to know right now, but I'm sure somebody right now is thinking submit it where all of that gets submitted to eBird. Do you want to just mention real briefly what eBird is?
Even Spears:Sure, we talked about Merlin earlier. Merlin is kind of a companion app to eBird. Both Merlin and eBird are created and managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Merlin is going to be more for identifying birds, and eBird, the app and the website, is for recording birds, logging birds that you see and hear, and these all this data goes into a huge database of global bird photos and recordings and sightings, and it's amazing just to go in there and take a look at what people are seeing in your area, but also seeing around the world.
Jessica Bowser:It's also just a really great way to track your own sightings, like if you're keeping a life list, which many birders do, they track how many species they've seen. E bird will keep track of that for you, so you enter the data, and then it'll tell you how many species you've seen. And even when you and I were doing a bird walk together at Lake Anna State Park, you kept the list, and then you were able to share the list with me, because I already have an account on eBird two. And then I accepted that list, and now it's in my account. So I will always and forever know which birds you and I saw together at Lake Anna State Park.
Even Spears:Yeah, it's a great way to get your friends into birding too. You can keep sharing the list of all the cool things that you're seeing and kind of egg them on to get outside and go birding.
Jessica Bowser:Where can people learn more about birding in Virginia State Parks?
Even Spears:Yeah, to find some of these birding programs and special events, you can go to the Virginia State Park webpage, and right at the top there's an events and activities tab. If you click on that tab, you'll see a drop-down menu, and you can click on the find programs and events. It'll take you to this page where you can type in what kind of events you're looking for, and obviously we type in the word birds and click search. A whole list of all of our state park programs are going to come up. These are all from guided ranger-led birding walks to maybe some more self-guided activities with a bird brochure, or maybe some of those large special events that I mentioned earlier.
Jessica Bowser:There's so many of them too, everything from owl prowls to tundra swan walks, and there's a plethora of events and activities going on in parks all across the state, and anytime,
Even Spears:and we mentioned the American Woodcock earlier, and in keeping with that, Powhatan State Park has this amazing Woodcock Watch program that they do in February and March, and so if you get a chance, head on, head on down there for one of those evening programs where you get to walk through these, like I said, more of this Piedmont Prairie Meadow habitat at dusk, and look and listen for these cute little birds that are flying all around you.
Jessica Bowser:I love woodcock walks, they're one of my favorite things to do in March. It's always on my calendar. I start, I start looking for all the woodcock walks in the area, and I just plug them into my calendar and make myself available. All right, range Ranger Evan, how can listeners get in touch with you?
Even Spears:Yeah, feel free to reach out and email me. That's going to be the best way to ask me questions about birding in parks, how to get into birding, which kind of maybe bird equipment you'd want to buy. If you're new to new to birding, you can email me.
Jessica Bowser:Perfect. I will drop your email in the show notes, so if anybody's looking for it, just scroll to the show notes section of your podcast player app, and and click on it. Okay. Ranger Evan, thank you so much for being a guest on Virginia Outdoor Adventures. This was such a fun episode. Episode when Virginia State Parks asked me to do an episode on birding, I said it will absolutely be my pleasure, and it has been. This is great. You know how much I geek out on birding, and it was so fun to spend time with you, because you maybe geek out on it a little bit more than me, and that made it even more fun.
Even Spears:I've had a ton of fun. Thank you.
Jessica Bowser:All right. Adventure on Virginia Outdoor Adventures is inspired by and supported by listeners like you, which is why your messages and feedback means so much to me. You can text me directly by clicking on Send Jessica a text message in your show notes. I answer questions, respond to comments, and share your feedback on the show. Never miss a new episode. Sign up for my email newsletter and receive my listener resource guide with the top podcast episodes, a Virginia outdoor bucket list, and exclusive brand discounts for my listeners. Click on newsletter sign up in your show notes, or visit Virginia Outdoor adventures.com Thanks for listening. Until next time, Adventure On.
Unknown:Bye.
