You like the idea of birding: of hanging out in the wild and being able to put a name to a beaked face. But how to get started? Don’t you need binoculars and guidebooks? What do you look and listen for? And where and when do you go?
Good questions all, and all answered as part of our Year of the Trail kickoff event, “Learn to Bird, Then Take a Hike,” on New Year’s Day. In the morning, the birding curious will pair up with experienced birders along the Yadkin River in Wilkesboro to learn to identify birds and, in the process, aid the North Carolina Bird Atlas, a nationwide program administered locally by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to get a good feel for bird populations for conservation purposes.
Because we want you to be as focused as possible on birding during this two-hour event, we’re doing a half-hour Zoom session beforehand to go over what to expect, the apps we will use to ID the birds, and to discuss logistics. The session will be on Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. No binoculars? No problem – we have loaners you may use. If you have mobility issues, this event will use paved greenways to explore along the Yadkin.
The birding event starts at 9 a.m. and runs until 11 a.m. We’ll break for lunch, then get to the “hike” portion of the days: a 1-mile, ranger-led hike at Rendezvous Mountain State Park. This First Day Hike is one of your first opportunities to explore Rendezvous Mountain as a state park (until recently, it was a state educational forest). The hike begins at 2 p.m. Rendezvous Mountain is a half-hour drive from Wilkesboro.
Details about the Zoom meeting will be provided upon registration.