FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] "Let's go birding......." - Burkes Garden BBC Field Trip

[Bill Grigsby <wgrigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Annual Bristol Bird Club's  Burke's Garden Golden Eagle Field Trip 
will get underway from the ETSU-Bristol Campus at 7 a.m. this Saturday, 
Feb. 17. We will meet birders in Bristol at ETSU Bristol at 7:00 AM.   

We will meet other birders at the Abingdon First Bank & Trust parking 
lot on U.S. 19 just off West Main at 7:30 a.m.
Our final check for meeting birders will come between 8 a.m. to  8:15 
a.m. at the Food City Store just off  U.S. 19 at Lebanon, VA. in Russell 
County.
We will stop for our last break in Tazewell and grab a quick bite at 
Hardee's where we sometimes have other birders waiting.  Some years we 
have had birders from the Bibee Bird Club of West Virginia join us.  We 
will be at Hardee's for about 30 minutes for a light breakfast stop, 
bathroom break and waiting on others.  We then head over the mountain 
into Burke's Garden. Carpool arrangments may be made at the meeting 
sites as needed.  Dress warm for Burke's Garden and plan for very cold 
wind.
Dave Worley of the BBC will lead the birding trip in Burke's Garden.

This has long been our most popular field trip with many birders 
attending. The garden is a high-elevation valley at 3,000 feet and the 
windchill  is often brutal in winter.
Last week, the Russell County Club had five Golden Eagles and five 
Rough-legged Hawks. A Long-eared Owl was found dead hanging in a wire 
fence one winter.  We may also expect Loggerhead Shrike, Red-headed 
Woodpeckers, migrating Red-tailed Hawks, Wilson Snipe, Green-winged 
Teal, Pintail and goldeneye have been found.  In addition we usually 
find several Fox Squirrels.
A store in the valley will provide us with lunch items and a warm and 
clean bathroom. Our usual plan of action is to stop at the store in 
mid-morning, leave our individual lunch orders and go back at noon to 
find everything ready, hot and delicious.  The store provides a warm 
stove and friendly atmosphere for birders.
Of extreme importance is the need for very warm clothing, including 
gloves, hats, scarfs, boots and such.  Even when the
temperature is 40 or 50 degrees the wind can be very cold and difficult. 
There is a chance of snow, which will probably postpone the trip. Keep 
an eye on the Bristol Birds list for the trip status. If you have any 
question e-mail me at bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or telephone (423) 
247-7980.  Dave can be reached at dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
If you have a family (FM) two-way radio or two bring them along for 
car-to-car communications.  We will be operating on Channel 10 with no 
subchannel.  This is of importance because often the trail of cars along 
the valley roads can stretch almost one half mile back and good birds up 
front and along the road can be called back or ahead as needed so 
everyone can see.
There is no hiking on this trip.  All of the vast and beautiful valley 
is very large farms with few houses and private land. Many of the old 
homes are beautiful.  The church and unique headstones are historic.
We will depart in mid to late afternoon.

A fun feature for several birders is to stop at the amazing U.S. Post 
Office in Burke's Garden.  You cannot imagine anything like this in 
modern civilization.  There we purchase post cards and mail ourselves a 
reminder of the weather, birds and fun of the day.  The cards are hand 
canceled and arrive home in several days. Let me know of your plans.  By 
knowing your plans, we can watch for you and make sure we are picking 
everyone up along the way.
Please let me know if you are planning to go. See you Saturday.

Bill Grigsby
President, Bristol Bird Club
Kingsport, TN
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