This bucolic getaway sits adjacent to the George Washington National Forest. The property comprises several fields, wooded upland, and a stretch along the Cowpasture River. The primary birding area of interest follows the driveway through closed canopy deciduous forest near the road, down along a rocky stream, and into an open field along the river.
In the immediate vicinity of the property, Westminster Road is great for observing Eastern Whip-poor-wills on the road before dawn. The forest near the road is representative of deciduous forests in the region, dense with ferns and large oaks. Worm-eating Warbler and Wood Thrush are in abundance here, and Cerulean Warbler has been detected along the rocky stream.
Common Nighthawks and Chimney Swifts are a common sight from the cabin around dusk. Early successional habitat on the field edges behind the cabin boasts breeding Yellow-breasted Chat along with Field Sparrow and Indigo Bunting. Hayfields on the property have Red-winged Blackbirds and Eastern Meadowlark and could produce a Bobolink, likely during migration. Several wet depressions in these hayfields might one day turn up a phalarope, bittern, or rail.
After the cabin, the driveway trail continues close to the eponymous Sycamore Bend, a sharp turn in the Cowpasture with a swimming hole and some gravel banks. Least, Spotted, and Solitary Sandpipers are common on the gravel banks in summer, and other shorebirds could join them. Orchard and Baltimore Orioles were both observed breeding in trees along the river. Mallard, Wood Duck, and Common Merganser have been observed on this stretch of river and could be joined by other species especially during migration.
There is opportunity for other wildlife viewing as well, with an abundance of insects to observe. In 2022 a female American black bear and two cubs were seen several times on the property. Sycamore Bend is located centrally to several extensive, rugged and underbirded sites in Bath County such as Gathright WMA. It is close to Warm Springs and only a little farther to Hot Springs. Highland County is also not far away.
See the owner's page for information on staying here or accessing the property to bird.
Owner/Manager: Sycamore Bend Cabin & River Retreat
eBird Hotspot: Sycamore Bend Cabin & River Retreat
—Megan Massa, November 2022