This will be an afternoon/evening of easy walking of about 3 miles or so. Grass may be wet so waterproof shoes will be helpful. You will also need to bring your meal and a portable chair (if necessary)

Please join us for an evening of great birding. This day/evening trip will focus on hearing and potentially seeing the declining Eastern Whip-poor-will and the always entertaining American Woodcock. Habitat changes in recent years have created great habitat in local areas for these two iconic species. We will start the afternoon in Mills River hitting a few of the area’s most popular locations. We will be looking for early migrants such as Blue-headed Vireo, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Black-throated Green Warbler as well as any remaining winter birds. We hope that there will still be a few ducks on the Mills River Water Treatment Plant, or a Northern Harrier on Hooper Lane. We will have a picnic dinner in Mills River and then head in the forest to await the show. Eastern Whip-poor-wills and American Woodcocks are most active right at dusk. We will drive to the spot and wait for them to become active. You may want to bring a chair along as we wait. In recent years we have heard a Barred Owl in the same general area so we will be on alert for that as well. This will be a fun afternoon/evening of birding, and a great chance to view/hear these two wonderful species.

Our afternoon begins in the forests of North Mills River Recreation area, where we hope to find some of those early southbound warblers and other songbirds. We may find Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, Blackburnian, and Hooded Warblers, Blue-headed & Red-eyed Vireos, Scarlet Tanager, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and more. We then head over to Mills River Park looking for birds in the fields and riparian areas. Willow Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting are all possible here. Our trip will finish up on Hooper Lane, where we hope to find some shorebirds waiting! Post-breeding Kites (both Mississippi & Swallow-tailed) and waders (Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, etc) are all possible this time of year and we will be on the lookout for them as well.