Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 8, 1994 TAG: 9402100220
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TROUTVILLE LENGTH: Medium
They're taking 60 acres, open and wooded, of Kinzie's farm and turning them into a wildlife welcome center. They've stacked brush into lean-tos open on the south side, so birds can eat seed unfettered by snow and ice. They've set up 40 feeders in four different places, and they fill them daily.
They've attached suet to several trees so the woodpeckers can eat; they've plotted trails for bird walks and established a hawk-watching spot; they've installed birdhouses for screech owls; they're planning to deepen a marsh, stock minnows and plant native ferns in hopes of drawing kingfishers and encouraging aquatic life.
Kinzie has planted hundreds of spruce trees, which shed snow better than white pines and thus are more hospitable to birds. The Botetourt County apple grower, a longtime bird watcher, is providing the place, but the labor is shared by him and perhaps 20 of his birding friends.
The improvements, and the harsh winter weather, have brought results. The participants have seen many kinds of birds, including northern birds, in greater profusion than usual - for example, some 200 white-tailed sparrows, compared to 20 or 25 in a normal season. They have put out nearly 1,000 pounds of millet and sunflower seeds so far.
The point of it all is to create an ecosystem that is wildlife-friendly. Mike Purdy, the acknowledged visionary of the group, said he wants to ``let it evolve and see how it goes.''
Eventually, the group may open the spot to small tours arranged through the Roanoke Valley Bird Club, to which they belong.
All of the people involved love birds, but their interests are more varied than that. Kinzie, 49, enjoys bringing the soil, the plants and the wildlife into concert. He knows that species can be attracted through correct efforts. Once, hummingbirds were rare in his woods. Now, they nest there.
Retreating from the morning chill into a cabin heated with a wood stove and supplied with coffee, tea and cake, the bird enthusiasts said this winter's wretched weather has been a boon for their avocation. Birders gleefully anticipate storm fronts that make non-birders cringe. Polar blasts drive birds into the area from the north. Hurricanes propel southern birds into view. Kinzie, in particular, takes note of weather vagaries. One recent morning atop his Woodpecker Ridge, the mercury dropped to minus 12.
Strange as it sounds, this is the ideal time to take up birdwatching, if you're so inclined. In winter, the leafless trees make birds easy to spot. The leaves of spring, and the return of indigenous species, can prove confusing, at first, to a beginner.
More than 200 people are on the rolls of the Roanoke Valley Bird Club, which meets the second Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. on the fifth floor of Center in the Square in Roanoke. Their backgrounds are professional, blue-collar and in between. They share an ability to appreciate nature and its workings, Peggy Spiegel said.
Beyond that, their motivations vary. Some treat bird-watching as a sport, compiling life lists of birds they've seen and seeking diligently to make additions. Some specialize in bird behavior, observing at their backyard feeders and in the wild. Some are interested in bird songs, and can identify species without seeing them. Some watch only migrating hawks. And some do it all.
``For me, it puts everything else into perspective,'' Spiegel said.
The aging of the baby boomers, the emphasis on health and fitness and the burgeoning of eco-tourism have combined to make birding a growing industry, she said. Open since 1985, her downtown Roanoke shop is evidence of that. At first, when she traveled to gift shows, salespeople looked at ``For the Birds'' on her name tag and asked what it was. Nowadays, they go right into displaying their wares. Stores like hers have multiplied like, well, birds.
``It's a totally portable hobby,'' she said. And, Kathy Summers, a fellow club member, noted, it can be as vigorous or easygoing as you want to make it. That's important to her, for she has rheumatoid arthritis.
All you need is a good field guide and a pair of binoculars. Once hooked, you may move up to equipment elaborate and expensive enough to satisfy the consumer in you forever. But you don't have to. That's the beauty part, aside from the birds.
by CNB