[Bristol-Birds] Hampton Creek Cove IBA Outing Info

Bristol Birders

Below is information on an event discussed at our last BBC meeting and 
appearing in our Eagle newsletter. Sounds like fun time: 

Hi,Â
In celebration of State Natural Areas Week, we are having an early season 
birding hike at Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area.
Hope you and your club members can make it. If you don't mind, please 
distribute this info.

Thanks,
Lisa HuffÂ

Early Season Bird Walk to Celebrate Tennessee State Natural Areas Week and 
Hampton Creek Coveâs designation as an Important Bird Area (IBA)
Location:Â Meet at Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area Parking 
LotÂÂÂÂÂÂ 
Date:Â Saturday, April 8, 2006
Time: Â9:00 am EDT
Leader:Â Nora Schubert
Sponsor:Â Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, contact Judy Murray at 
(423) 323-4993
Description:Â Nominated by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy's 
(SAHC) 2005 Seasonal Ecologist Nora Schubert, Hampton Creek Cove State Natural 
Area (HCCSNA) was designated by Audubon as an Important Bird Area (IBA) on 
December 31, 2005.
Audubon, as the Partner for Bird Life International, is working to identify a 
network of sites that provide critical habitat for birds. This effort known 
as the Important Bird Areas Program (IBA) recognizes that habitat loss and 
fragmentation are the most serious threats facing populations of birds across 
America and around the world.ÂÂ Unless the rapid destruction and degradation 
of 
habitat can be slowed, populations of many birds may decline to dangerously low 
levels. The IBA Program helps birds by setting science-based priorities for 
habitat conservation and promoting positive action to safeguard vital bird 
habitats. 

Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area, a 700-acre component of the Highlands 
of Roan conservation initiative, is located in Carter County, TN, on the 
flanks of Little Hump Mountain. A caretaker operates a small Appalachian farm 
at 
the lower elevations. The site, bisected by the Left Prong of Hampton Creek, 
contains a diverse array of habitats including mature hardwood forests, 
pasturelands and hay fields with a significant amount of early- and 
mid-succession 
scrub-shrubs habitat on the peripheries of the fields.

The large mosaic of vegetative communities found at Hampton Creek Cove 
supports at least 89 species of birds, of which 71 species breed or are 
potential 
breeders. Of these, 44 are neotropical species. Others migrate through the area 
or overwinter on the property. At the lower elevations, early secondary 
succession habitat provides excellent nesting habitat for the golden-winged 
warbler, a Tennessee "In Need of Management" species. This particular habitat 
type 
also supports many other species that require early succession habitat for 
nesting such as the alder flycatcher and willow flycatcher and more common 
species. 
This habitat is decreasing in the Southern Appalachians due to reforestation 
and human gentrification and is considered rare at high elevations in the 
Southern Blue Ridge. Managing Hampton Creek Coveâs early succession habitat 
and 
encouraging the creation of early succession habitat on surrounding private 
land may prove vital to the continued existence of the golden-winged warbler in 
this region.

The walk will traverse early succession as well as mature forest habitat in 
quest of early spring birds. The hiking is easy, but be prepared for any 
weather conditions. Snow can still linger in the woods in early April, so 
wear 
boots. Bring water, a lunch â and binoculars if you have them. The hike 
will 
end in early afternoon.
Directions:Â From Elizabethton, TN, take U.S. Highway 19E to the town of Roan 
Mountain. In the town of Roan Mountain, take State Route 143 south, then 
turn left onto Stratton Street into the town. Turn right at the first stop 
sign, 
then bear left on West Street. Turn right onto Old Highway 143, then turn 
left on the bridge that crosses the creek, just across from the ball field and 
before passing the Cloudland Elementary School. Stay straight on this road, 
following Hampton Creek up through the cove. The Hampton Creek Cove State 
Natural Area parking area is on the left, just past Grays Chapel.

'Til we bird again

Rack Cross
Blountville, TN

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