Birding

Sky Meadows State Park

540-592-3556, SkyMeadows@dcr.virginia.gov

On the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sky Meadows State Park offers a great environment for birdwatching, with elevations stretching from about 600 to 1,800 feet. The park's varied terrain, ranging from open fields and rolling meadows to wooded hillsides and higher ridge lines, creates a mix of habitats where different types of birds can be seen throughout the year.

Type of birds

The agricultural history of the area has created a mixture of pasture and woodlands interspersed with streams and ponds that attract many bird species. In fact, the park has more than 200 documented species of birds. Visit www.skymeadows.info/birds for details about bird species at Sky Meadows.

Best time of year to observe

Spring brings a great chance to see wood ducks, thrushes, orioles and other migrating songbirds passing through or settling in to nest. Summer is prime time to watch the park's cavity-nesters raise their young, including bluebirds, tree swallows and American kestrels in our nest box program. In autumn, raptors - hawks, eagles, harriers, and more - migrate along the Blue Ridge in good numbers, with bald eagles (and the occasional golden eagle) most likely to be seen from November through January. Throughout the year, birders may spot one of seven species of woodpeckers, including the popular red-headed woodpecker.

Best places in the park to observe

Because so much of Sky Meadows is edge habitat - the places where forest meets meadow and forest meets stream - great birding spots are spread throughout the park rather than concentrated in one location. The Gap Run Trail follows a forest-stream edge whose insect-rich cover draws warblers, flycatchers and thrushes. The park's open pastures and fence lines create forest-meadow edges where hawks and kestrels hunt overhead and songbirds work the tree line. The trees around the visitor center are a reliable spot for Baltimore orioles and red-headed woodpeckers, and Turner Pond attracts wood ducks and other waterfowl. While the park has no dedicated viewing platform, this patchwork of habitat means good birding is never far from any trail.