Since 2004, the Three Rivers Avian Center (TRAC) has partnered with Little Beaver State Park as the home of its annual Migration Celebration, a festival of West Virginia’s birds and of the state’s natural heritage. The 2012 Migration Celebration is scheduled for May 12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is open to the public at no charge.
Held each year on International Migratory Bird Day, the Migration Celebration encourages young and old alike to go outdoors and see what lives in their backyards and in their biologically diverse state. The day features live birds of prey on display from TRAC; exhibits from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Diversity Program and the New River Gorge National River; the West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s Insect Survey; storytelling; bird, bug and nature walks; a free photography workshop; and fun for the whole family.
“Little Beaver State Park is not just for humans,” said Park Superintendent Erik Evans. “Animals find refuge and a place to relax, too. Squirrels, deer, foxes, bear, and many other animals call the park home, and so do birds. An osprey has been hunting fish in the lake for several summers, peregrine falcons have been seen flying over, and birders have counted more than 35 other species as well.”
In honor of eight years of working together to conserve West Virginia’s wild birds and educating and involving people in ecosystem stewardship, TRAC recently awarded Little Beaver State Park a certificate of appreciation for hosting the annual Migration Celebration.
About Three Rivers Avian Center
Three Rivers Avian Center is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to caring for West Virginia’s wild birds. Founded in 1990, TRAC provides veterinary care and rehabilitative services to more than 200 wild bird species, is the project coordinator for the multi-state and multi-agency effort to restore peregrine falcons to the New River Gorge, provides environmental programs featuring live birds of prey throughout West Virginia, and encourages public participation in birding and bird-related activities through an extensive website (www.tracwv.org) and active Facebook page.
About Little Beaver State Park
Little Beaver State Park, located just outside Beckley in Raleigh County, is a popular place for family outings. Eighteen hiking and biking trails, rated from easy to strenuous and ranging in length from a quarter mile to 2.6 miles long, wind their way throughout the 562 acre park. Little Beaver Lake is an 18-acre focal point at the park entrance that provides facilities for fishing and paddle boat rides. Geocaching is also a growing activity.
Picnic shelters and tables are scattered in convenient areas around the Lake and a playground offers youngsters a place to exercise youthful energies. Little Beaver State Park has added 30 campsites with water, electricity, a bathhouse and a laundry room. More information can be found at www.littlebeaverstatepark.com.
Outdoors
Migration celebration at Little Beaver State Park May 12
- Outdoors
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Hunting has become more mainstream
As sportsmen, we live by an ethical code of conduct. We are taught by our mentors not to take our way of life for granted and to be aware of our actions as not to cause offense to others. In short, we are taught to behave in a manner as to not make a non-hunter into an anti-hunter.
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Birding among outdoor passions
If you love the outdoors, there are probably some activities you like better than others. Maybe it’s trout fishing or deer hunting. My passion is birds. I love the spring migration when new species return almost daily.
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Setting the record straight on rabbits
Thanks to cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, the rabbits we see in our backyards, eastern cottontails, are familiar to almost everyone. And yet I suspect that most people think they are rodents. They are not. Rabbits and hares are lagomorphs, members of the mammalian order Lagomorpha.
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Fickle weather can wreck plans
Well, it’s officially spring. We have “sprung forward” into daylight saving time in hopes of long, sunny evenings to play and work outdoors in the glorious, warm rays of the sun. In return for our daily routines being altered by the time change, we are awarded with unpredictable weather and mud season — gee, thanks!
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Black deer among nature’s rarities
A few weeks ago, Joan Robinson contacted me after she noticed something out of the usual while driving along a Hampshire County backroad in the Eastern Panhandle. It was so unusual she even questioned herself at what her eyes were actually seeing.
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Male half of nesting eagle pair feared dead
One of southern West Virginia’s much-loved and only confirmed pair of nesting American Bald Eagles is suspected dead and the pair’s eggs located at the tip of Brooks Island off W.Va. 20 are in jeopardy.
Wendy Perrone, executive director of Three River Avian Center, said National Park Service Law Enforcement was notified that an Amtrak train hit the eagle Sunday around 10:30 a.m.
Since Sunday, the Park Service, Three Rivers and dedicated volunteers have scouted the track and surrounding area from Brooks Island to Sandstone Falls, but no one has recovered the bird. The male bird, affectionately called Whitey, has also not returned to the nest, leading experts to believe he was killed. -
There is help for anglers getting started
According to statistics from the National Surveys of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, which are published every five years, the number of anglers in the U.S. is in a steady decline. Over the last 20 years the number of anglers has dropped from 35.6 million in 1991 to 33.1 million in 2011.
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Beckley among places to ‘talk turkey’
This past week brought us snow and rain. Like my kids are fond of saying in a very sarcastic tone, “Really?” For the sportsmen in our area, the last couple of days of winter can be a downtime in the action. For those needing to scratch the hunting and fishing itch, I have a little news that might just do the trick.
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‘How do robins survive winter conditions?’
Winter must be winding down because I’m getting letters and e-mails about winter robins.
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Sequester impacting hunting, fishing industries
A news release from Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) Communications came across my desk this week, and I felt the information was worth sharing.
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