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Birds of the Blue Ridge: Red Crossbill

Keep your binoculars at the ready. That “redbird” in the forest may not be a Cardinal!

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Pied-billed Grebe

The envy of all helmsmen piloting a submarine, this grebe is a master of buoyancy control.

December’s Wild Edible: The American Chestnut

What was one this region's most predominant tree has now become merely an afterthought.

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Snowy Owl

While they are Arctic birds, recent years have shown an uptick in irruptions – irregular migrations outside the normal geographic range of a given species.

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Dark-eyed Junco

Our little sharply dressed messengers of winter have arrived – the “snowbirds!" Or, as others call them, Dark-eyed Juncos.

Current Issue

844eb1d2-814c-11ed-8fbd-12b3f1b64877-Red-Crossbills-by-Michael-Todd

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Red Crossbill

Keep your binoculars at the ready. That “redbird” in the forest may not be a Cardinal!
0dc1a9de-814c-11ed-9a2f-12b3f1b64877-Pied-billed-Grebe-by-Michael-Todd

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Pied-billed Grebe

The envy of all helmsmen piloting a submarine, this grebe is a master of buoyancy control.
Elaine Ingram admires a purebred American chestnut clinging to survival on the Ingram’s land in Craig County. Such trees are rare.

December’s Wild Edible: The American Chestnut

What was one this region's most predominant tree has now become merely an afterthought.
64d2ed34-69a3-11ed-ac14-12274efc5439-Snowy-Owl---photo-by-Michael-Todd

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Snowy Owl

While they are Arctic birds, recent years have shown an uptick in irruptions – irregular migrations outside the normal geographic range of a given species.
58386c80-69a2-11ed-84ff-12274efc5439-Dark-eyed-Junco---photo-by-Michael-Todd

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Dark-eyed Junco

Our little sharply dressed messengers of winter have arrived – the “snowbirds!" Or, as others call them, Dark-eyed Juncos.
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Departments

At Coopers Rock State Forest, new Stargazer cabins invite guests to look up through skylights and telescopes.
Country Roads

Even Closer to Almost Heaven

New Stargazer cabins at Coopers Rock State Forest offer a skyward escape in the mountains of West Virginia.

June 29, 2026
©Duncan Seaman
Country Roads

A Mountain Tradition Turns 90 

Visitors flock to Galax, Virginia, each summer for the Old Fiddlers’ Convention, a days-long celebration of Appalachian music.

June 29, 2026
Synchronous Fireflies
Creature Feature

The Light Fantastic

Fireflies are struggling with the effects of artificial light.

June 29, 2026

CALENDAR OF EVENTS