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good birding spot near Hendersonville, NC



Hi, C-birders.
Sunday evening an hour before dark, my friends Portia and Flo and I pulled
into the Davidson River Campground in Pisgah National Forest about a
half-hour west of Hendersonville. (It's just off Hwy. 64 on Hwy 276 -- I
think -- that goes on up the mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway near the
Pisgah Inn.) This place, which must be between 2000 and 3000 feet in
elevation, seems well worth a stop by birders and is a nice campground to
stay in (hot water, clean bathrooms). The Dogwood Loop where we camped was
full of birds at dusk. It was a clearing on a flood plain with fairly big
trees and some close cropped lawn, edged by shrubs and big trees along the
river - and full of food:  wild grape, Va. creeper, swamp dogwood and
regular dogwood all laden with fruit. I heard chickadees as soon as we
pulled in, so I got my binoculars and starting pishing. A Cape May warbler
flew in, and there was also a ruby crowned kinglet hanging around, plus one
titmouse. Dozens of robins were on the ground and in the trees. After we got
our stuff out of the truck and tents pitched, we went for a quick walk
before dark. Couldn't get far - too many birds. Scads of immature
rose-breasted grosbeaks in the trees. One maple draped with a wild grape
vine was visited by a mourning dove, a yellow bellied sapsucker, several
grosbeaks, a cardinal and a vireo (I think red-eyed but I wasn't absolutely
sure) while we watched it. There were downy woodpeckers around, also a
rather tame flicker working the lawn for ants, and one shy woodthrush. Saw a
few bluejays. A scarlet tanager crouched on a white pine limb eating
something I couldn't see - until a couple of big transluent wings floated
down. Saw a first-fall magnolia warbler and another Cape May. Heard a weird
birdsong and traced it to the campground host's motor home, where there were
seed feeders hung out for the wild birds and also a birdcage with a parakeet
in it! Later, as we sat by the campfire, we heard a barred owl call far
away. Of course I couldn't wait to get up and seriously look for birds in
the morning. Not to be! I had way misjudged when the front would come
through. A gentle rain was falling at first light. Just at the moment when
we started taking down our tents, the rain became a deluge. We threw the
soggy mess into the back of my truck and fled up the road to the Blue Ridge
Parkway and the Pisgah Inn for breakfast. The only birds after that were
small flocks of juncos on the Parkway. But Davidson River campground was a
find. I look forward to going back and recommend that others take a look if
you're in the Hendersonville area. (We went up to pick apples at Stepp's
orchard on Pace Road behind the Edneyville Elementary School -- nice people,
great apples. But that's another story!)
Ginger_Travis@unc.edu
Chapel Hill, NC