Every year, we invite bird lovers to our backyard inside Pisgah National Forest during the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. This year, the dates for the GBBC are February 15-18, 2019.
![Chipping Sparrow By Vkulikov (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://www.innonmillcreek.com/wp-content/uploads/chipping-sparrow-wiki-commons-200x200.jpg)
Look high up in the trees or on top of the high evergreen shrubs (and sometimes on the ground) near the birdfeeders at the Inn on Mill Creek and you may spot the Chipping Sparrow, our January 2017 pick in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn series on the blog.
Hear a noise that sounds like a cat who’s gotten itself stuck in the branches of a tree? Well, if you hear that “Mew Mew” at the Inn on Mill Creek, it’s likely you’re listening to the Gray Catbird, our final pick of the year in our monthly Birding at the Inn series on the blog.
We’re big fans of the Eastern Screech Owl, a small raptor with a distinctive set of songs, none of which sounds like a screeching owl to us, but more like a bubbly, warbly, trilly, whinnying owl. So let’s meet our November 2016 selection in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series.
For our October 2016 pick in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series, we’ve selected a bird that, like us, loves to be in the woods. Since the Inn on Mill Creek B&B is situated inside Pisgah National Forest, keep an eye out for one of its year-round residents, the Cooper’s Hawk.
![[photo credit: William H. Majoros]](https://www.innonmillcreek.com/wp-content/uploads/chestnutsided-warbler-wiki-commons-william-majoros-200x200.jpg)
Keep an eye out, especially during spring and fall migration, for our September 2016 pick in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series: The Chestnut-sided Warbler. And guess what color its sides are. Let’s learn more, shall we?
Our August 2016 bird in the 12 Months of Birding series here on the Inn on Mill Creek blog is a terrific warbler, the Common Yellowthroat. This bright and cheery songbird arrives in springtime to the mountains of western North Carolina and remains in our neck of the woods throughout the summer months.
We’ve chosen a decidedly American bird for our July 2016 pick in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series: The American Redstart. Not only does this feathered fellow have “American” in its name, but you can find it in nearly every state in the continental U.S. during the summer or migration period in spring and fall.
Arriving during spring migration and hanging out all summer long in parts of Pisgah National Forest is the Acadian Flycatcher, our June 2016 pick in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series. If you book one of our rooms in the Deck House, you may see one of these enchanting little birds making the acrobatic feat of catching insects while flying look easy.
In the spring, we see lots of migratory birds in western North Carolina — some hang around for the spring and summer, while others are just passing through on their way to another destination. One of those “just passing through” birds is our May 2016 pick in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series: the Swainson’s Thrush.
