Birding the Craggies & Black Mountains
Asheville, NC
May 26, 2024
Register by clicking the ‘book now’ button above, or by contacting the Ventures office. We accept credit cards for an additional fee (2.9% for MC, Visa, Discover; 3.9% for AmEx), but you may also pay by bank transfer, cash, check, or money order. This Venture is limited to 10 participants.
Guide/Leader: TBA
Meeting Place: We will meet at the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center parking lot located at 364 Blue Ridge Pkwy, Black Mountain, NC 28711 at 7:30 AM. Time: 7:30 AM – 2:00 PM Price: $60
This day trip features some of the best birding that the Blue Ridge Parkway has to offer. There will be minimal hiking – most of the birding will take place from overlooks, roadsides, and picnic areas. Higher elevations will be cooler if not cold and it could be very windy.
On this late May tour we plan to visit various locations along the Blue Ridge Parkway north of Asheville. Our focus today will be on the higher elevations of the Craggy and Black Mountains, two subranges of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. We will begin around the Craggy Gardens area where we will look for an assortment of warblers, including Chestnut-sided, Canada, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green and Blackburnian, among others. Least Flycatcher, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Veery are just a few other birds we should find in the area before we head up even higher in elevation. Eventually, we will find ourselves up in the spruce-fir zone and the areas around Mt. Mitchell (at 6,684 feet, the tallest peak in the eastern United States). Typical breeding birds of this habitat include Brown Creeper, Dark-eyed Junco, Winter Wren, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Hermit Thrush and Red Crossbill. We’ll do our best to find all of these and more! Over the last few years, birds typical of more northerly areas have lingered well into June, suggesting they may begin nesting here, such as Magnolia or Yellow-rumped Warbler.
In addition to the birds, we’ll also be paying attention to the wildflowers, butterflies, spectacular views, and anything else we can find!
Join us for this laid-back day in the highlands of the Craggy & Black Mountains!