Woods and Marshes
Fall Migration in the Green River Gamelands

Osprey by Ventures Birding

Polk County, NC
October 14, 2020

Red-headed Woodpecker by Larry Pellegrini

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 12 participants

Meeting Place: We will meet and carpool from the Cracker Barrel parking lot at the Upward Road exit (from Interstate 26) in East Flat Rock Time: 8:00 AM Cost: $55 Unfortunately, our picnic lunches are not currently included in our day trips (until further notice)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Venture Description: An easy walk through a wide range of habitats- woodland, pond and meadows. Please remember to wear comfortable shoes such as sneakers or other walking shoes.

The Green River Gamelands sit on the Blue Ridge Escarpment and contain quite the variety of managed habitats, from mixed hardwood to pine forest, and early successional to floodplain forest. As such it holds a fantastic mix of both mountain and lower elevation species. We will start in Saluda and slowly descend the steep winding road listening for flocks of transient birds. We normally drove this road in the spring for an outstanding selection of warblers as they return to breed. As well as the expected selection of southbound warblers, tanagers and flycatchers, driving this road in the fall may produce some nice surprises, such as Red-headed Woodpecker, Philadelphia Vireo and Black-billed Cuckoo.

We will make our way all the way to Lake Adger, where we will look for additional migrant and early winter sparrows, Wood Duck and other newly-arriving waterfowl. We will also keep our eyes out for a Bald Eagle around the lake as well as the usual species of Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Fish Crow, Red-shouldered Hawk and others. We may even get lucky and see one of the few Common Mergansers that have bred in this area the past few years.