Last year’s inaugural Pine Mountain Warblers, Woodlands and Wildlife Weekend in Whitesburg changed my perspective.
I have always been an outdoorsy person who likes to hike, camp and view wildlife. But I had never really bird-watched in a concentrated way. During the weekend, expert birders led hikes and identified species by listening to their calls and observing their habits. That buzzy, scale-climbing call? A northern parula. A hidden species that keeps singing “teacher?” An ovenbird. The zebra-striped friend perched on a nearby branch? A black-and-white warbler.
I realized I was missing an ongoing conversation happening all around me. How could I not have learned the language of these seasonal Kentuckians? As we traversed the Letcher County wildlands, I developed a desire to gain a more intimate knowledge about my avian neighbors. After I returned home, I put the Merlin Bird identification app on my phone. My husband and I began quizzing each other on the sounds of birds we heard in our neighborhood. I joined local birding walks to continue to expand my knowledge and understanding.
I encourage you to experience a bird-focused event for yourself. Consider attending this year’s Pine Mountain Warblers, Woodlands, Watersheds and Wildlife Weekend May 8-10 at the Cowan Community Center near Whitesburg. For those not familiar, Pine Mountain is an ecological treasure, a rugged ridge running more than 100 miles along the Kentucky-Virginia border. According to biologist and Cowan watershed coordinator James Stapleton, it is one of the most prolific areas in Kentucky for seeing native birds, especially during spring and fall migrations.
“We are right in their flight path,” Stapleton said. “Pine Mountain is the last little fingernail of a pretty intact ecosystem within central Appalachia.”
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Pine Mountain stands as a remnant of Appalachian forest that is minimally impacted by extraction. Its geology is primarily limestone with no coal deposits. Only a couple of roads penetrate its 2,500-foot peak, creating a protected space that serves as a crucial ecological corridor for all kinds of wildlife.
David Burns participated in last year’s weekend. “The amazing birding opportunity is what brings me back, and I’m really looking forward to leading a bird walk again this year,” he said. “As I reflect on last year’s ‘Warblers, Woodlands and Wildlife’ weekend, I’m remembering all the energy and joyful discovery I had that weekend. I’m already imagining the flowers, the sounds and the simple quiet of walking in the woods, celebrating all things Pine Mountain and Kentucky culture.”
The event is free for all participants and open to all levels of bird watchers. Several meals prepared by Whitesburg’s CANE Kitchen are offered at no charge. Saturday night will feature an expert speaker, yet to be announced at the time of this writing (the bar is high, as last year’s speaker was the internationally renowned author and artist David Allen Sibley). The days are filled with hikes and outdoor opportunities in nearby natural areas, including Lilley Cornett Woods and Kingdom Come State Park.
The excursions explore more than just birds. I joined naturalist-led hikes in the spring woodlands and saw a variety of rare and beautiful spring wildflowers—lady slippers, painted trillium, rock harlequin and showy orchis. Jess Slade with Kentucky Natural Lands Trust (KNLT) and Heidi Braunreiter with the state Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves will lead a hike on Friday afternoon, May 8. The group will traverse a section of the Little Shepherd Trail along the ridge of Pine Mountain in the Hi Lewis Pine Barrens State Nature Preserve and KNLT’s Warbler Ridge Preserve.
One of the hike highlights will be the rare Cumberland Mountain pitch pine barrens, an open habitat with a large diversity of native species. Trees include Fraser’s magnolia (Magnolia fraseri) and American chestnut (Castanea dentata), which routinely sprout, bloom and produce fruit on the mountain despite the chestnut blight. Slade said they will discuss the ecology of the area and specific plant adaptations, plus highlight management efforts underway to protect the rare species and communities there.
Stapleton plans to lead a hike at Bad Branch State Nature Preserve, an easy and spectacular trail. A pair of ravens nest there—rare in Southeastern Kentucky. While taking in the waterfall and walking along the creek, he will share about stream ecology. An anthropological element will contemplate what stories ancient residents might have told in the archaic petroglyphs near the water level.
Friday evening activities will celebrate community. An open conversation will give people the chance to share their connection to Pine Mountain and its ecology, ideas on how to best preserve and share it, and tensions with historic economic opportunity in the region. The Birdie in a Cage Square Dance follows the talk.
“The role of Cowan Community Center is to be a nonpolarizing, comfortable and friendly place to connect,” Executive Director Valerie Horn said. “We have to be open to bringing everyone to the table for conversations without being judgmental.”
The center has been a place of welcome and education for 60 years. It emerges from and focuses on the community it serves. A wide range of programs helps it meet its mission of providing educational, social, cultural and recreational experiences for the entire community in order to sustain healthy lifestyles that encourage intergenerational relationships.
The Cowan Mountain Music School teaches traditional Appalachian music to 120 students of all ages for a week in June. Kids on the Creek camp runs for eight weeks each summer and serves more than 100 kids a year. The Levitt AMP Concerts bring nationally known acts to Whitesburg. Each week, people shop at the farmers market, join in sewing classes, and learn music through the Pick and Bow program. Summer interns—88 last year—support its programs and offer paid employment for young people in the region.
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Renamed this year to include information about the hydrology of the area, the Pine Mountain Warblers, Woodlands, Watersheds and Wildlife Weekend grew out of a major new element of Cowan’s work. The center sits on and has a deep connection to the mountain, from the trees sourced there to construct it to the ancestors rooted there who made it thrive. Through the Sustaining Our United Regenerative Community Efforts (SOURCE) initiative, people are invited to consider how they are part of the natural world through community efforts that enhance quality of life while preserving cultural identity and sense of place.
The headwaters of three major water systems begin in Letcher County, and actions there can impact everyone and everything downstream to the Gulf of Mexico. Stapleton coordinates scientifically sound, community-based solutions to water issues. One of the most problematic pollutants in the North Fork is excessive sedimentation. He experimented with restoring two riparian zones behind Cowan, creating a demonstration project by replacing grass with 400 native plants along the creek. Scientific analysis showed a significant reduction in parking lot runoff entering the stream. Then, Stapleton held four workshops last year to introduce the community to these stream buffer solutions.
Other SOURCE programming celebrates the special place that is Pine Mountain. The family-friendly Salamander Soiree incorporated short exploratory hikes, artwork, a dance and stories to spark interest in these amphibians’ end-of-winter migration. Participants were introduced to one species that is known to exist only in Letcher County.
Agroforestry classes teach people how to grow ginseng and mushrooms, while the woodland growers program encourages re-establishing native tree species. Leaders envision integrating SOURCE into everything that happens at Cowan, with an emphasis on how environmental stewardship increases quality of life.
“Our place is important, and what we do here matters to all these birds that migrate through here,” Horn said. “We want visitors and our community to appreciate and recognize the specialness of our area and see its potential for economic development as a tourism site.”
The Pine Mountain Warblers, Woodlands, Watersheds and Wildlife Weekend takes place May 8-10. Stay updated on plans at facebook.com/cowancommunitycenter.