Birding in Asheville
By Bobbi Holland
It’s true, “Bird chirping weather is my favorite weather.”
Perhaps because my grandfather loved birds so much and I adored him so much, I have enjoyed watching, listening to, and trying to identify birds since I was a girl. I fondly remember helping him refill his bird feeders in Oregon and looking at his Audubon field guide as we would ooh and ahh at the pretty winged visitors who would stop by.
While my little life list includes such memorable jaw droppers as the Blue Grosbeak and the Roseate Spoonbill, catching sight of a bright red male Northern Cardinal, an Eastern Bluebird, or a sweet Carolina Chickadee, like the one below, here in Asheville still gets my attention and makes me smile.
It’s really no wonder more and more bird enthusiasts are flocking to Western North Carolina. With our beautiful mountain topography, farmland, and rivers we live in a wonderful place to see all sorts of overwintering eastern species as well as seasonal flyway migrants.
You don’t even have to venture very far with a number of bird friendly destinations right in and around Asheville. Here are some of my favorite places to visit, with or without binoculars at the ready:
1. Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary
More than 190 species have been spotted at the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary, a small nature preserve in north Asheville managed by our local chapter of the National Audubon Society.
The Bird Sanctuary is free and open to the public, and is easily accessible with overlooks and a boardwalk looping through the wetlands. You can join in a bird walk the first Saturday morning of every month from October to March.
2. North Carolina Arboretum
The North Carolina Arboretum is a 434-acre public garden in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest is a great place to explore any day and in any season, especially if you want to see birds. More than 10 miles of easy to challenging trails meander through an extensive variety of plants and habitats.
The Arboretum also offers bird-related natural history classes for adults throughout the year, and it’s a great place to foster a love of birds in younger generations too. There are three Kids in Parks Track Trail adventures at the Arboretum, and children can earn an Ornithology Badge through the ecoEXPLORE program.
3. Blue Ridge Parkway
One of the reasons I love where I live is the ability to walk through my neighborhood and hike up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Mountains to Sea Trail. By car, with four Asheville entrances for the BRP you could be in the woods and birding in minutes.
For a guided outing, Ventures Birding Tours offers Blue Ridge Birding day trips
to a variety of locations and habitats along the BRP.
I’m personally looking forward to visiting the Bull Creek Important Bird Area a this spring. This 5-mile section along the BRP is notable for having one of North Carolina’s most significant populations of the strikingly blue Cerulean Warbler which has yet to make my list.
4. Biltmore Estate
More than 200 species of birds have been identified at the beautiful, sprawling Biltmore Estate over the years. Trail maps are available for exploring acres upon acres of bird habitat from farmland, forest and meadows to the lagoon, Bass Pond, and the French Broad River.
If you’re hoping to see an Eastern Bluebird, this is a particularly good place for it—there are over 100 bluebird boxes on the Biltmore Estate! Pictured below is a Bluebird, as commonly seen on the Estate grounds.
5. Backyard Birding
Due to increased black bear activity in my neighborhood, I haven’t had a bird feeder in my yard for a few years. But as February is National Bird Feeding Month, I decided to risk attracting any winter wanderers to my yard in favor of helping our feathered friends get through the colder food-scarce months.
My daughter and I recently stopped in at Wild Birds Unlimited to stock up on a good quality birdseed mix for our feeder. We also upped our bird hospitality game by buying a small inexpensive birdbath.
We are happily seeing much more bird activity in our backyard than usual now, like this pretty Tufted Titmouse pictured at my bird feeder. I love hearing the sound of the songbirds as day breaks each morning. It’s a sweet way for a Nester to wake up to a new day!
Lastly, if you love and appreciate birds like I do, don’t forget the annual Great Backyard Bird Count taking place February 15-18 this year, and Global Big Day on May 4. These are two free and fun ways for anyone to help support bird study with as little as 15 minutes of bird watching and counting. You can also sign up to do your own two-day bird count for Project FeederWatch until April and starting again in November.
Happy birding!
Bobbi Holland is a Real Estate Broker with Nest Realty Asheville. If you are looking for a new place to make your nest in Western North Carolina, reach out to her today!