Birding

Along the Rockfish Valley Trail

	The Rockfish valley Trail offers an excellent birding adventure for both novices and experts. The trees, fields, bogs, rivers, streams, and mountains provide a diverse habitat for year round birds and migrating species. Novice birders can expect to see 20 or more species during a two hour walk, and experts may see 40 to 50 species or more, especially during spring and autumn migration. At this time, there are four sections of the trail that are open for birding.
	The Upstream Trail Park at the Rockfish River trail head along Route 151. This 0.6 mile section of the trail follows the Rockfish River on your right, and agricultural fields on your left. A number of Bluebird boxes are found along this path. Look for Kingfishers and Herons along the river, and Meadowlarks in the fields. Swallows, Sparrows, Flycatchers, and Red-winged Blackbirds are common, and Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Vireos, Waxwings, and Warblers are frequent visitors.
	The Downstream Trail Park at the Rockfish River trail head along Route 151. Walk under the Route 151 bridge. This 0.5 mile section of the trail follows the Rockfish River on your left, and agricultural fields on your right. A number of Bluebird boxes are found along this path. Look for Kingfishers and Herons along the river, and Meadowlarks in the fields. Swallows, Sparrows, Woodpeckers, and Red-winged Blackbirds are common, and Orchard Orioles, Vireos, and Warblers are frequent visitors.
	The Reids Creek Trail (Glenthorne Loop) Park at the Rockfish River trail head and take the downstream trail to reach this section of the Rockfish Valley Trail. You can also link to the Reids Creek section from the Spruce Creek Park trail at the Elk Hill Baptist Church. This 1.7 mile section of the trail follows Reids Creek and loops around agricultural fields with many Bluebird boxes along the walk. Look for Swallows, Sparrows, Flycatchers, Gnatcatchers, Cardinals, Orchard Orioles, Vireos, Waxwings, Scarlet Tanagers, Cuckoos, and Warblers. Broad-winged hawks and other raptors may be seen. There are two footbridges that cross Reids Creek.
	The Spruce Creek Park Trail Park at either the Spruce Creek Gallery Parking lot along Route 151 or at the small parking lot by the Riverside Nursery on Route 627. This 0.7 mile section of the trail follows Route 627 and loops around an agricultural field back to the Spruce Creek Gallery. You can link to the Reids Creek section of the Trail next to the Elk Hill Baptist Church. A few Bluebird boxes are found along this trail. Look for Swallows, Sparrows, Vireos, Gnatcatchers, Waxwings, and Warblers.