Volunteers pitch in at birding, nature center

Jul. 26—The New River Birding and Nature Center was visited by guest volunteers this month.

A group of 24 youth between the ages of 13 and 18, along with six adults from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fairfax, Va., held their retreat at ACE Adventure Resort in Oak Hill and volunteered their time in community service at the Nature Center's Wetlands Boardwalk and Woodland Trails.

Nature Center founder and program coordinator Rachel Davis arranged the community service component with the youth ministry retreat organizer, Tyson Daw. With the large group divided into three smaller groups, Davis prepared three simultaneous programs the smaller groups rotated through.

Local volunteers included Geoff Heeter of Lansing with the Fayette County Education Fund, Inc.'s Leadership Fayette County; and Chris Mullens of Princeton and Tasha Yates of Lookout with the New River Gorge Master Naturalists.

Crosier's Sanitation donated a portable restroom for the day. Residential rental company Fayetteville Adventure Cabins provided tools, gloves, bird boxes and hardware.

The group installed six new bird boxes and cleaned existing boxes, trimmed vegetation from overgrowing the boardwalk and trails and cut back non-native invasive plant species, and discussed natural history on a guided nature walk with Davis.

Together, group members maximized their energy and enjoyed the work components. A difficulty the group encountered on the hot day was the effort required to properly stake and secure bird boxes in shallow, rocky soil that is common to the area.

"We're a youth group from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in Fairfax, Virginia. We believe in serving our community and giving back whenever possible," Bishop Kraig Carlile said.

"We were excited about the opportunity to serve this community and the local wildlife. We really enjoyed the experience. Our young men had a great time clearing invasive brush, building bird houses and learning about the biodiversity in the beauty of West Virginia. We'd for sure do that again."

In a suburb of Washington, D.C., it is not always easy to find quiet in the forest without the sounds of nearby people. On the guided walk at the Nature Center, the group found quiet in the forest, listened to bird songs, looked closely at tadpoles, white-tailed deer tracks and plants, learned about citizen science, and carefully searched for salamanders.

"It was kind of cool to be in the woods where it was quiet and peaceful," Thorley added.

"We learned about discovering new species, and migration patterns," Zander Daw said.

"I learned about native and non-native plant species so I can know them in the woods," Oliver Bangerter said.

"I learned that salamanders can grow their limbs back. It's pretty cool," Josh Monk said.

"Being out there reinforced that God created the natural beauty for us and it strengthened my testimony that God created this work that we can learn and grow from it. It's a powerful witness to what we believe," Thorley concluded.

The New River Birding and Nature Center is an outdoor education area for the community. The Wetlands Boardwalk and Woodland Trails are built and maintained by donation and volunteers.

Admission is free. Donations are encouraged. Visitors are asked to help maintain the area by minimizing disturbance, leaving only soft footprints, and removing only litter.

The center is situated in the mixed-use business development Wolf Creek Park, between Fayetteville and Oak Hill near the intersection of Appalachian Drive and W.Va. 16, just off U.S. 19.

The Nature Center area is also a bird observatory, serving as a station for Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) where studies of bird populations and movements regularly occur under the supervision of Allen Waldron of Surveyor and Keith Richardson of Oak Hill.

It is currently the only MAPS station that reports banding of the Swainson's Warbler, an important neo-tropical migrating bird, due to its under-studied and uncommon status, natural behaviors, and extreme habitat requirements that are dwindling.

Contact Rachel Davis at rachel@birding-wv.com to donate or to schedule a volunteer day at the Nature Center.