Orange County

Orange County was formed in 1734 from Spotsylvania County and named after William IV, Prince of Orange. It is bordered by Greene County to the west, Madison County to the northwest, Culpeper County to the north, Spotsylvania County to the east, Louisa County to the south, and Albemarle County to the southwest. It has a very rich history, boasting a roster of famous resident including Presidents James Madison and Zachary Taylor, and Virginia governor James Barbour. It was also the site of the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. Thirty-four sites in the county are listed on the National Register of Historic Places including the Barboursville Ruins, James Barbour’s former mansion that burned in 1884.

Due to its location in the north-central Piedmont of Virginia, Orange County’s landscape is defined by its geology. Agricultural land is prevalent in the western half of the county where the mineral-rich Catoctin Formation metabasalt predominates, while the eastern half is much more forested due to the various sedimentary rocks here weathering into soil much less suitable for farming. The northern end of the Southwest Mountains reach into Orange, with the highest point (1196’) found at the top of Cowherd Mountain in the far southern part of the county.

The county is located in three watersheds, the York, Rappahannock, and James, and the northern boundary is formed by the Rapidan River. A small portion of Lake Anna reaches into the southeastern corner of the county, and other bodies of water include the 124-acre Lake Orange and Lake of the Woods, a private lake in a gated community.

Orange has a total of 212 species recorded on eBird as of December 2019, typical for a relatively under-birded Piedmont county. The western part of the county is an excellent place to look for open habitat species such as Grasshopper and Field Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole, Barn Swallow, etc. Summer records of Dickcissel, Vesper Sparrow, and Bobolink suggest local breeding populations. The Southwest Mountains host a suite of breeding birds typical of the Blue Ridge foothills, e.g. American Redstart, Wood Thrush, Hooded Warbler, Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, and possibly Kentucky and Cerulean Warblers. Eastern Orange has plentiful acidic oak-dominated woods in which one can find typical forest dwellers, as well as species like Yellow-breasted Chat and Prairie Warbler in regenerating clearcuts. The county’s only records of Prothonotary Warbler comes from the swampy inflow area along Terrys Run Road. Lake Orange is a good location for waterfowl in winter, and various farm ponds have potential as well. Shorebirding in the county is essentially restricted to Groomes Point, a spit of mud located where Pamunkey Creek flows into Lake Anna. This spot is viewed from the base of the US 522 bridge in Spotsylvania County, and requires a scope, but can be well worth a visit, with Semipalmated Plover, both yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, several gulls and terns, and Little Blue Heron recorded here in recent years. James Madison’s Montpelier is a great place to visit a variety of habitats, and has some excellent looking fields for sparrows and other fall migrants.

Notable regional and state-level records for the county include Ross’s Goose, White-winged Scoter, Red-necked and Western Grebes, Little Blue Heron, Lesser Black-backed Gull, American White Pelican, Purple Gallinule, Sandhill Crane, American Avocet, Anhinga, Golden Eagle, Rough-legged Hawk, Loggerhead Shrike, Rock Wren, Evening Grosbeak, Lark Sparrow, Yellow-headed and Brewer’s Blackbirds, and Western Tanager.

—Drew Chaney

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