About Hill Forest


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BIRDS


The Forest holds delightful sights and sounds for avid bird-watchers, with State Forest Road providing convenient access to their habitats. Hill Forest's long-active but limited logging operations provide a man-made boon to species diversity, creating a patchwork of successional stages throughout the Forest offering diverse habitats welcoming many exotic species along with the more familiar Piedmont songbirds and raptors.

Regenerating timber stands attract early‐succession songbirds such as the Yellow‐breasted Chat and Prairie Warbler, while open stands of pine are nesting sites for Eastern Wood‐Pewees and Summer Tanagers. Along the Flat River floodplain Kentucky Warblers, Hooded Warblers, and Louisiana Waterthrushes are common, along with Acadian Flycatchers, Wood Thrushes, and Scarlet Tanagers. Wild Turkeys are common throughout the Forest.

Hill Forest is one of the Blue‐headed Vireo's easternmost nesting sites, and in spring Grasshopper Sparrows are reportedly active near the intersection of State Forest Road and Moore's Mill Road. The very fortunate birder may possibly spot a Northern Bobwhite foraging in old‐field habitats.

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