Scenes from The New River Birding Festival 2013 Part 1

Every spring I make the trek to south-central West Virginia to help out guiding, speaking, and performing at The New River Birding and Nature Festival. Those of you who've read this blog over the past several years know all about why this event is special to me. And each year it seems to get a bit more special. There are lots of things about "the New" that appeal to me: the incredible natural beauty of the New River Gorge region, the amazing variety of nesting, migrant, and resident birds, the chance to eat ramps... but I think the real reason is the people.

I've become great friends with the folks who founded and run the festival—we're like family at this point. But it's also the people who come as my fellow guides/speakers—they are some of the most talented field birders and fascinating personalities on the planet. And it's the folks who attend the New River Birding Festival as participants. It takes a special person to see the intrinsic value in a small, friendly birding event run deep in the middle of a state that is probably not naturally on the radar of the average traveling bird watcher.

But that's changing...

I speak and guide at a bunch of birding festivals every year. And lots of times someone on one of my trips will say to me "Hey Bill, I see that you do that New River festival in West Virginia every year. What's that one like?" I always say: "Man, it's great! Low key. Great birds, food, people, scenery." But what I really should say is: "You've gotta be there to experience how great it is."

In this post (and maybe one or two others coming up) I'm going to show some images from the 2013 NRBNF to help you get a feel for what it's like.

The pre-festival guides' meeting (with local micro-brew) in the gazebo. Festival hosts, from left: Lynn Pollard, Bill Hilton, Jr, Geoff Heeter, Dave Pollard.

Most mornings we meet for breakfast at Burnwood, a picnic area and campsite near the gorge. After fueling up, we head to our vehicles—if we can find them in the fog that sometimes blankets the gorge.

The fog burns off and we're into the birds. This is a group I led early in the week this year, on a new route called Hunt Club Road. We were looking at this:

Male golden-winged warbler

When we see a good bird like this, we take a moment to celebrate. Here is a photo of a low-key version of The Life Bird Wiggle (we didn't want to disturb the bird).

Then we're off after more birds...

There's a lot for us guides to point out...

Ernesto Carman from Costa Rica came to guide this year. He has incredibly good spotting skills.

Keith Richardson, one of the festival's organizers and hosts, points out a worm-eating warbler on the Nuttallburg hiking trail.

There are so many great birds that we get long, binoc-filling views of...

Male Kentucky warbler.

Male prairie warbler.

Male scarlet tanager.

There's a lot more beauty to enjoy than the feathered kind.

Roaring mountain stream above Nuttalburg.

Flowering pawpaw tree.

Spidery grape vine.

Swirling stone. What made this pattern in the mountain?

If this post piques your interest, make plans now to attend The New River Birding Festival in 2014. I'll be there and I can't wait!

HOMEMADE KETTLE POPCORN

 

The last time I made a trip to Cabelas there was a guy in a trailer with a giant black cast iron kettle cooking popcorn.  It put a kind of salty sweet toasty smell in the air that immediately made your mouth start to water.  They were charging an unreal amount of money for  a bag of the stuff and being the big guy I am I did not need to eat anything so I convinced myself it was one of those country fair type foods that I just did not need.  When I left the store I had to walk by it again and smell that wonderful smell but I made it to the truck without buying any of the stuff. 

A few months later my wife and I were at a well know Central Texas outdoor market and I again smelled that wonderful salty sweet caramel aroma on the wind.  As we strolled down the row of booths I saw where the smell was coming from.  An older couple was tending this behemoth black kettle and the older gentleman was stirring it with a paddle big enough to use for my kayaks.  They had not only the large bags of this stuff for sale but much smaller bags priced at only $1.00.  I had to taste that stuff and see if it tasted anywhere as good as it smelled.  I figured it would be like that first taste of coffee when you are kid.  You know what I mean, remember how good mom’s coffee smelled and how that first taste of coffee was so bad you wanted to spit it out.  Well I was wrong, that caramel tasting popcorn was some of the best stuff I ever put in my mouth.  It just kind of melted in your mouth as it was still warm, it tasted of things like caramels, popcorn and pralines all rolled into one bite.

I figured I was doomed to only run across this stuff once a year or less and would be on a quest for people that had that giant black iron kettle to cook the stuff.  Several months later I came up with a reason to make the long trip south to Cabelas for some item I just had to have.  As I got closer to Buda I could almost smell and taste the Kettle Korn.  I was going to get a big bag of the stuff no matter how much they charged for it.  As I parked the truck and headed for the front door of Cabelas panic started to set in, I could not smell the distinct aroma on the wind.  Maybe I was upwind or they had just stopped cooking for a little while.  Now closer I could not find the trailer and guy with the big black kettle anywhere.  I went in the front door and grabbed an employee and inquired about the Kettle Korn vendor and could not believe the news, he no longer comes there to sell his product.  I walked around the store not remembering what I had come to get or maybe they were out of it.  I made the drive back to Round Rock without any Kettle popcorn and wondering when I would again taste that wonderful popcorn. 

Saved by the Web I found all sorts of recipes for Kettle Corn on the net.  I wish I could tell you I came up with this recipe but I found out that it has been a basic staple of our country since the early 1800s.  The Pennsylvania Dutch are credited with inventing it but you can now make it at home, in camp or whenever you desire.  If you have never tasted Kettle popcorn give this recipe a try or if somewhere, sometime you smell this wonderful sweet salty caramel smell on the wind and you find the guy with the giant black cast iron kettle stop and buy some.  Enjoy, Wild Ed

Homemade Kettle Korn

•1/3 cup Olive Oil

•2/3 cup Popcorn Kernels

•1/3 cup Sugar (If you use white sugar, it will taste like popcorn balls and if you use brown sugar, it will taste like caramel corn.  I seem to prefer a 50/50 mix of brown and white sugar flavor)

•1/2 tsp. Salt or to taste, I use Kosher or Sea Salt

Put a large pot on the stove and turn the burner on to setting between medium and medium-high.    Add the oil and four or five kernels of popcorn and cover with a lid.  In a bowl mix together the remaining kernels, the sugar, and the salt.  When the popcorn kernels start popping remove the lid and pour in the rest of the popcorn kernels, sugar and salt.  Stir this to mix with oil, replace the lid and, using two hot pads, shake the pot vigorously.  Shake every 15 seconds or so until the corn is finished popping so the sugar doesn’t scorch.  You will know it's done when you count 2 or more seconds of silence between pops.  Quickly remove from heat and pour it into a bowl.  Let it cool a bit and then break up the clumps so you have individual popped kernels.

You can seal this stuff in plastic zip lock bags or jars and it will be good for a while.  I don’t know how long it will last because it never lasts very long around here.  I don’t know where it goes.

The Day After The Rain Came

Have you ever noticed how the land seems to recover and everything comes back to life after a rain?  We have been living with drought now for so long in Lampasas County that what happens after a rain is now very special instead of common place.  My wife and I took time to drive around the place today and notice the land and birds coming back to the way they should be.  I just hope this is not a tease and we get enough rain to keep the grazing and give all the wildlife a chance this year.  I took pictures from the picnic table at our barn bird feeders, out in the pasture and even over the fence on my Uncle Bob's place.  Some are of flora and fauna while others are of past property owner's history that still stands as testimony to those that made a go of it in this part of Texas. I hope you enjoy them all.  Get out when you get a chance and notice what happens after a rain.  Sometimes all we need to fix the land is to just add water, Wild Ed

 

 

 

 

Our House in the Country

Lots of family and friends know we are building our dream home in the country on acreage outside of Lampasas, Texas.  Everyone keeps asking how it is going and where we are on a time line.  I thought it might just be best to post a few pictures from this last week.  So as the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words.  We have made a lot of new friends in the area and will be making more I am sure.  We are looking forward to having many of our friends and family out to visit our little place in the country. 
Wild Ed