Nature Blog Network

If you don’t like comradery, this isn’t for you.
If you don’t like world-class guides, this isn’t for you.
If you don’t like scenic views with dinner, this isn’t for you.
If you don’t like immense biodiversity, this isn’t for you.

“This” is the New River Birding and Nature Festival, held in and around Fayetteville, West Virginia.  After returning from my second foray to this little known birding area, I stand prepared to testify that this is the most intimate, unique birding festival I have ever attended.

I attended this festival last year for the first time with the “Flock”, a group of crazy blogging women (and one man) who after realizing that online relationships were just not cutting it, decided to get on with it and meet in the lush green hills of West Virginia.  And what ensued was nothing short of magic.

The trees and rhododendrons, full of warblers.  Edges of puddles, ringed with swallowtail butterflies.  The leaf litter, teaming with salamanders.  And maybe, if you’re lucky, a black bear crashing through the underbrush, running AWAY from you.

Need some warblers to load onto your life list? The guides know where to find them…a plethora of habitats exist in this part of West Virginia, from river bottoms to reclaimed strip mines, to brushy hillsides to windswept hay fields.

And a word about the guides:
You get the best.  Bill Thompson III, Julie Zickefoose, Wil Hershberger, Jeff Gordon, Jim McCormac, Mark Garland…and that’s not including all of the local guides who know every tree and turn in the road.

In my humble opinion, what sets this festival apart from the rest is the intimacy.  The promoters and hosts will know you by name.  They will do everything they can to ensure you have a great time.  And when it’s time to say goodbye, you will receive a heartfelt wish for you to return.

Lodging:
Plenty of choice here.  Cabins in the woods, larger “family-sized” properties, or hotels.

Food:
It’s good.  There’s a lot of it.  Hot breakfasts, gourmet dinners, and picnics for lunch.

I tried to think of something, anything, that I hated about this festival.  And I was able to come up with one thing: A week isn’t enough.  Not by a long shot.

Susan Kaiholtz-Williams, two-time attendee and biggest fan of the New River Birding and Nature Festival, is also the author of Susan Gets Native, our featured blog on July 6, 2009.