Southampton County

Eastern Meadowlark, © Alex Shipherd

European settlement in this region is some of the oldest in the state; what is now Southampton County was included in Warrasquoyocke, one of the eight original “shires” comprising the English Colony of Virginia. The term “county” eventually came to replace “shire,” and Warrasquoyocke was renamed Isle of Wight County in 1637. Southampton County as we know it came into being in 1749, when the areas west of the Blackwater River were split from Isle of Wight to form a new county. The origin of the name is somewhat obscure – it may have been an honorific for Henry Wriothesly, third Earl of Southampton, but it just as likely refers to the English borough of Southampton. At 600 square miles, Southampton County is one of Virginia’s largest, tying Rockbridge for the tenth slot. Despite its large area, however, the county is only home to just over 18,000 residents. Most of the land is given over to agriculture, including cotton and especially tobacco, which have been staples of the local economy since colonial times. Prior to the Civil War, Southampton’s agricultural economy was built on the backs of enslaved laborers. In 1831, Southampton was the site of one of the most notorious racial conflicts of the antebellum era when Nat Turner, a charismatic slave preacher, led a rebellion that results in 60 deaths. Ultimately, the rebellion was brutally put down, its leaders captured and executed, and vengeful white mobs went on a brutal rampage and lynched almost 200 black Southampton residents. In the years preceding the Civil War, Southampton grew with the arrival of railroads in 1835, serving as the main route connecting Petersburg with Portsmouth and Norfolk. Buoyed by the railroads, the town of Franklin sprung up and grew to be one of the most important settlements in the county before becoming an independent city in 1960. With an economy that has remained steadfastly reliant on agriculture, Southampton has not seen the declining fortunes that other regions did in the post-industrial era. Tobacco and cotton, once dominant, gave way to more diversified agricultural products including peanuts, soybeans, ham, and watermelons.

As might be expected from a county so dominated by agriculture, the landscape in Southampton is one of extensive farm fields dotted with tracts of pine and mixed woods. There are large, publicly accessible natural areas or parks, and birding here is perhaps best done through a piecemeal process of rural road birding punctuated by shorter stops at smaller birding locations such as boat ramps, millponds, and creek crossings. Three major rivers pass through Southampton: the Blackwater and the Meherrin, which form the county’s eastern and western boundaries, respectively, and the Nottoway, which cuts diagonally across the county from north the south. There are numerous access points along the waterways in Southampton, and a full half of the eBird hotspots here are boat ramps. Any of these can be convenient locations to stop and listen; in the breeding season, the riparian woods along the rivers are often alive with the sounds of Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, Louisiana Waterthrushes, Northern Parulas, and Hooded and Prothonotary Warblers. Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows often course along the river foraging for insects, and the latter two species can be seen nesting under bridges. In winter, these boat ramps are fine spots to seek the winter woodland suite, but the Blackwater and Nottoway are not particularly wide, and so typically have little in the way of waterfowl beyond Wood Ducks.

Like the other counties in Virginia’s Southside region, birding in Southampton is distinguished by the presence of a suite of typically southeastern species that are at the northern limits of their range, or are found here with uncommon abundance. Such species include Mississippi Kite, Anhinga, Swainson’s Warbler, and more rarely, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck. Southampton is dotted with numerous millponds, ranging from tiny dots on the map to large ones such as Darden or Johnson Millponds, which might properly be called lakes. During the summer months, any millpond or other body of water is worth checking for Anhinga, which nest sporadically in this area, as well as Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, which are rare but prone to randomly drop in on even small ponds, usually in late summer. Though not as common as at Great Dismal Swamp, Swainson’s Warbler is a local breeder in the county that is mostly encountered in swampy areas along the North Carolina border. One good spot to check is the swamp off Joyner Road (701), just south of Branchville. The bridge over the Meherrin on Low Ground Road (730) can also be a good spot. Though Mississippi Kites have now expanded much more widely in Virginia, Southampton was once one of the most reliable spots for this species, and is still a good place to see kites in much greater numbers than elsewhere in Virginia. Mississippi Kites can be seen soaring just about anywhere in Southampton, but the traditional spot to look for them is Little Texas, in the western part of the county. With its sprawling fields and wide-open skies, this area is a place where you can sometimes find ten or more kites in a single group!

Apart from these hotspots and birding techniques, much remains to be uncovered about how to bird Southampton County. Despite its large area, the county’s eBird list currently sits at only 170 species, so there is clearly room for additions. Four an inland county with relatively limited water features, Southampton actually has a healthy roster of ducks, including species like Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, and Red-breasted Merganser, but there are more that surely occur. Shorebirds are even more poorly represented, yet it seems likely that they do drop into wet agricultural fields after periods of rain. There is a record of Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, begging the question of whether this species is a rare resident along the rivers or in some of the swamps. Even migrant passerines leave some obvious gaps – are there migrant spots yet to be found, or does Southampton suffer from the same dearth of migrants that deeper Piedmont counties experience?

Hotspots

Sources