Skippers Safety Rest Area/Welcome Center

This hotspot has been created to consolidate eBird data from one of the over 40 highway rest areas maintained and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Currently there are rest areas along Interstates 95, 64, 66, 81, 85, and 77 and Route 13. Often (though not always) there are corresponding northbound and southbound rest areas at roughly the same point; in these cases, a separate hotspot exists for each. Generally speaking, highway rest areas are not ideal places for birding due to both marginal habitat and excessive road noise. Most are relatively open with some tall trees, but may be bordered by more extensive woods or fields. In instances where a particular rest area has unique birding features, efforts will be made to point those out. Notwithstanding the often marginal birding, highway rest stops are of interest for traveling birders looking to drop in eBird lists along their route – hence the creation of hotspots to consolidate reports from rest areas.

Accessibility: All highway rest areas are free and open to the public 24/7. They have ample parking spaces and usually some mix of amenities typically including bathrooms and vending machines. Some may have more extensive facilities including pet areas, picnic areas with grills, and welcome centers with maps and other travel information. Specific information on amenities can be found by following the link below to the VDOT website.

Owner/Manager: Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)

eBird Hotspot: Skippers Safety Rest Area/Welcome Center

Steel Bridge Road

One of the most productive birding spots in Greensville County is this roughly two-mile long road in the far southeastern corner of the county, just a half mile west of the Southampton line. Most of the road is dominated by large tracts of early successional, cutover land, in some cases backing up to patches of intact woods. The birding here is at its best during the spring and summer months, when the cutovers are alive with the songs of Northern Bobwhites, Yellow-breasted Chats, Prairie Warblers, Field Sparrows, Indigo Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, and the like. From the woods, it is not unusual to hear or see woodpeckers, flycatchers and pewees, vireos, and Summer Tanagers. At the northern end of the road there is also a substantial marsh; a cautious approach may allow you to spot a Wood Duck before it flushes, or perhaps a Great Egret. This is also an excellent spot to look skyward, with the wide open view making it easy to spot soaring aerialists including swifts and swallows, as well as Mississippi Kites. If you find yourself traversing this road on a summer night, you will likely be serenaded by the songs of Eastern Whip-poor-wills. However, for many birders the biggest draw here is at the very southern end of the road, just barely north of the North Carolina border, where the dominant open habitat gives way to a wet bottomland forest and a creek that is crossed by the eponymous “steel bridge.” These woods are home to a variety of woodland and riparian species such as Yellow-throated Vireo, Northern Parula, Prothonotary Warbler, and Louisiana Watherthrush. This is also one of the most reliable spots in Greensville County to find Swainson’s Warbler, with one often (though not always) singing near the bridge. In spring and fall, this spot is as good as any in Greensville to search for migrants. Relatively little winter birding effort has been logged here, so there remains pioneering to be done. The brushy vegetation along much of the road may be good for winter sparrows, while the wetland at the north end seems likely to attract waterfowl on occasion.

Accessibility: This is a public road, located about half a mile west of the Meherrin River. After crossing into Greensville County from the east, turn left from Low Ground Road (VA 730) onto Steel Bridge Road. The road itself is unpaved gravel, but it receives very little traffic and it is possible to cruise slowly and stop to look or listen.

eBird Hotspot: Steel Bridge Road

—Matt Anthony

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