A relaxed day of birding from roadsides, gravel roads and overlooks with a minimal amount of walking. As winter weather at the higher elevations can be unpredictable, we will be sticking to the lower part of the county – rain gear and a light jacket are recommended.

Today we will explore some of the best lower elevation birding spots in Transylvania County with Michael, one of the local bird experts. We will start in the lower elevations during the morning hours, we when we will look for open-country species, such as Eastern Meadowlark, Rusty Blackbird and a large selection of wintering sparrows, such as Savannah, Song, Swamp, Field and Fox. We will also hit as many patches of open water as possible looking for wintering waterfowl. Some, like Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser, will be common, but we could find Common Merganser, Ruddy and Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Green-winged Teal and many others.

Depending on the winter, we could also see some finches, such as Purple Finch, Pine Siskin and if we are very lucky, Evening Grosbeak. We are also likely to see Common Raven, Brown Creeper, Dark-eyed Junco, Winter Wren, and Red-breasted Nuthatch as they descend to lower elevations at this time of the year.

The itinerary for the day will depend of the weather and what birds are being seen in the local area: our itinerary is unknown, as are the birds that will be around – but that’s just part of the fun!