Last night I took my daughter out to the Bent Creek area in nearby Pisgah National Forest to watch the dazzling mating displays of some American Woodcocks. If you are unfamiliar with this migratory but locally year-round resident member of the sandpiper family, this bizarre-looking creature has endeared generations of Americans with its early springtime “sky dances” as the fabled conservationist Aldo Leopold called them. The male alternately launches hundreds of feet into the sky in a twisting spiral flight, accentuated with twittering sounds made by their primary feathers in the air, and then alights in a clearing (hopefully near a female) where they sit and slowly turn while uttering a loud peent sound which, if you are close enough to hear, is preceded with what my daughter calls a hiccup sound.

Blue Ridge Audubon has recently received a golden opportunity to help mold the next generation of birders and bird activists. We have received an Audubon-in-Action grant this year to engage with local college students at UNC-Asheville and high school students at several local high schools to give them instruction and mentorship in Advocacy and Activism skills that they can deploy not only with us in upcoming Audubon initiatives like Audubon Advocacy Day and the Lights Out! Asheville campaign but also in any cause that they see a need to advocate for, bird-related or otherwise. We are very pleased to have this opportunity to ensure that future generations of people will be there to help protect future generations of birds and the places they depend on.

And there is still time to watch the woodcocks this spring! Local places they have been seen displaying in recent years include the Sandy Mush Game Lands and the fields around Mount Pisgah. See this map for sightings.

•    Ronan Nicholson, one of the 2019 American Birding Association’s Young Birders of the Year. Ronan has had his photographs published in the ABA’s Birding magazine and other publications.

•    Lauren Shepherd, a recent convert to bird photography. Lauren has already captured images of rare local area birds including Golden Eagle and has amassed thousands of Instagram followers of her images.

•    Vicky Burke, Ventures birding guide and area Hawk Migration Association watch leader. Vicky uses photographs to complement her birding work and as reference material for her paintings.

•    James Poling, member of the Blue Ridge Naturalist Network. James photographs birds, wildflowers, and landscapes. He has also shot spectacular scenic time-lapse videos using his Nikon mirrorless camera.

We’re excited to announce that the Blue Ridge Audubon Chapter was chosen to host a traveling art exhibit featuring the amazing photographs of the winners of the 2022 Audubon Photography Awards. This wonderful exhibit of incredible bird photos printed out in large format size will be on display from Wednesday, March 22 to Wednesday, April 12 at the Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St, Asheville. The winners were selected from 2,416 entrants from across the U.S. and Canada and the show serves as a tribute their dedication to the art of bird photography. The National Audubon Society’s aim in having their photo contests is to further appreciation of the wonder of birds and the places they inhabit. We are grateful to the library for hosting this exhibit so that we will be able to share these photos with the public. The exhibit is on the main floor of the library, please check the library’s website for open hours.

Do you have a hankering to find more than 100 bird species in one day? To compete with other birders to see more birds than they do? To spend from predawn to after dark chasing birds around our beautiful region? To raise money for conservation? Well, if you do, then get a team together and join the Blue Ridge Audubon’s Birdathon! Our Birdathon takes place in May and is a one-day (24 hour) birding event in which birders try to spot as many species as possible and raise money for conservation. It's fun to participate and do a "Big Day" here in the mountains and, at the same time, help us raise money to support bird conservation. The rules are simple: use one car, choose a day and bird together for 24 hours (or less!), only bird the surrounding NC counties, and have a good time. Come up with a fun team name that we can add to our flyers, and you can use the flyer to fundraise.

If you are interested in forming a team, please send an email to blueridgeaudubon@gmail.com. We can answer any questions you have and provide you with the Birdathon fundraising form and the rules. Please contact us soon so we can add your team’s name to the Birdathon flyer.

March to May are the springtime Bird Migration Awareness months. The Coalition for a Bird-Friendly Asheville has some great tips for folks to help birds migrate safely through our city. These actions help birds and night-flying insects as well as reduce energy consumption.

You can also put bird-safe window treatments on any exterior windows that birds may collide with. Change outdoor bulbs to yellow to help insects.

It’s quiz time! Do you know your nest boxes? To attract a nesting bird, it’s important that a nest box entrance hole be the proper shape and size. Appropriate placement and protection from predators can also help nesting success.

These bird houses are among the many found at Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary. See if you can identify the birds that the nest structures (photo 1) are designed to attract. Match the following nine species to the photos of their nesting structure: Tree Swallow, Purple Martin, Wood Fairy, Eastern Phoebe, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Wood Duck, Chimney Swift, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Screech-Owl.

Notable recent sightings at Beaver Lake include Bonaparte's Gull and Pine Siskin.