North Fork Blog

Bird Watching Weekend May 29th to 31st

We were honored to have Dr Gary Rankin join us for our Birdwatchers weekend. He talked on Friday evening to an amateur crowd about the basics of birds. He focused on how to care and feed for wild birds in our backyards. He brought great birding guidebooks, talked about birdhouses, and the different kinds of binoculars. He gave us a gift of a bluebird house and brought plans for the rest of the group on how to build their own bluebird house.

On Saturday morning he led the early risers on a birdwalk in the perimeter of the Monongahela Forest adjacent to the Inn. He then took them down by the river in the Smoke Hole Canyon. Later on Saturday afternoon, he led and narrated a birdwalk at Seneca Rocks. It was a fun and informative weekend for both the amateur and expect bird watchers in attendance. On Saturday evening all guests were able to share their bird watching adventures and stories around the dinner table while they enjoyed a delicious meal with included:

Complimentary Wine Tasting
Bruschetta made with Fresh Mozzarella made with fresh Basil from our garden
Pork Green CHili
Chicken Marsala made with Local Wild Mushrooms
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli
Carol's Famous Chocolate Souffle with French Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

It was a wonderful weekend of Birding, Food, Wine, and Excellent Conversation.

Here is a list of the birds identified over the weekend in the area.

Birds seen/heard at North Fork Mountain Inn, Dolly Sods and Seneca Rocks
May 30, 2009

Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Wild Turkey
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Barred Owl
Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Golden-winged Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
American Redstart
Worm-eating warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch

Total = 72 species

Posted on Sunday, June 07, 2009 - Permanent Link - 0 comments

Blog Archive | Subscribe to Feed