City of Lynchburg

Northern Rough-winged Swallow, © Tucker Beamer — **Northern Rough-winged Swallow**, © Tucker Beamer

Nestled in Virginia’s Piedmont, and founded along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is a city with a unique history in both this nation's past and the hobby of birding. In 1757 at the age of 17, John Lynch started a ferry service that carried goods and people across the James River to New London, Virginia. The town of Lynchburg quickly grew along the banks of the James surrounding the ferry terminals. Because of its geographic location between Richmond and Roanoke, Lynchburg became an important trading hub on both rail and river. The James River Company created a thriving transportation business that carried goods such as coal and tobacco by bateau from western Virginia via a series of locks and canals that are still visible today. Lynchburg served as an important transportation and supply hub for the Confederacy in the waning days of the Civil War. The city would go on to produce well-known figures such as Army medic and Medal of Honor awardee Desmond T. Doss, and controversial evangelist Jerry Falwell Sr.

Lynchburg's birding began in the 1890s and early 1900s with recorded observations from John Daniel Jr., Ella F. Mosby, and Percy W. Shufeldt, the latter of whom found the state’s first Common Ground-Dove within city limits in 1900. A 1905 single-day bird count in the city and surrounding land found 15 Bewick’s Wrens, 12 Bachman’s Sparrows, and 28 migrating warbler species. Birding in the early 20th century was led by Dr. Ruskin S. Freer, the founder of the Virginia Society of Ornithology and the Lynchburg Bird Club. He founded both organizations on the campus of the University of Lynchburg, then known as Lynchburg College. Thanks to Dr. Freer, Lynchburg and its surrounding counties started producing well-documented and consistent ornithological records from as early as the late 1920s.

Lynchburg is bordered by Bedford County in the west, Campbell County in the east, and Amherst County in the north. As part of the upper hills of the Piedmont, the city is carved by many small creeks and gullies that wind their way towards the James River. At 49 square miles, the city is Virginia’s 8th largest independent city by geographical area and contains a variety of habitats. When on the lookout for waterfowl, places such as The Summit, College Lake, Reusen’s Reservoir, and Coffee Road are all great locations. It is important to note that the Summit Lake is private but visiting the main office should allow you access to the property. The ponds within Lynchburg city limits on Coffee Road seemingly always have overwintering Ring-necked Duck and large flocks of Canada Geese that will occasionally have Cackling Geese mixed in. College Lake has been slowly filling with silt for years and as a result a large mudflat has been growing with a series of successional gradients moving from mudflat, to cattail marsh, and then willow wetland on the pond's edges. Reusen’s Reservoir has been doing the same and both locations are now the city's best spots for waders in late summer and shorebirds in spring and fall. Spring warbler watching is best done at Blackwater Creek, which provides a great system of both paved and dirt trails that zigzag through the city, creating a corridor for migrating passerines. In fall, warblers and other passerines are often found at Peaks View Park where mixed juniper and fruiting trees provide a great food resource for passerines at heights where your neck won’t give out. Ivy Creek Park and the HumanKind trail system are great spots for fall sparrows. The trails at HumanKind are a beast in their own right with several martin colonies, wet successional meadows for woodcocks, tall grass meadows for meadowlarks and sparrows, and streamside woodlands. For the traveling lister this is the go-to spot if you want to rack up a big species list quickly.

Thanks to Dr. Freer’s early birding and continuing efforts by the Lynchburg Bird Club, the city has racked up an impressive 224 species and counting. The city’s most notable birds have included Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Common Ground-Dove, White-winged Dove, Rufous Hummingbird, Calliope Hummingbird, Purple Gallinule, and Limpkin. Other county rarities have consisted of Ross’s Goose, Cackling Goose, Tundra Swan, White-winged Scoter, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Sandhill Crane, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Northern Goshawk, Mississippi Kite, Alder Flycatcher, Sedge Wren, Clay-colored Sparrow, and Lark Sparrow. All these records were provided by the Lynchburg Bird Club’s private records and eBird.

—Logan Anderson

Hotspots

STAKEOUT HOTSPOTS

The following hotspots should only be used to input historical records pertaining to a specific staked out rarity, as indicated in the hotspots names.

stakeout Dickcissel, Faculty Drive (2023)

Accessibility & Surroundings

Lynchburg can be accessed via Route 29 which runs along the eastern edge of the city, connecting it with Charlottesville to the north and Danville to the south. The downtown area and Liberty University are both an easy drive off of Route 29. Although not technically a hotspot, the city dump is a short drive from the highway and hosts Grasshopper Sparrow, a tricky bird in the city. Farther into the city you may find spots such as Percival’s Island and Blackwater Creek. Route 460 cuts through the city’s southern limits and then out along the eastern edge of the city, joining Lynchburg with Roanoke to the west and Richmond to the east. Liberty University and the downtown area are also accessible from this route. Route 501 from Bedford will bring birders straight to spots such as HumanKind and Reusen’s Reservoir.

Amenities & Recommendations

A gateway to the mountains, Lynchburg has been a tourist destination for hikers, ultra runners, bikers, and anyone looking to recreate on the Blue Ridge. In recent years the downtown area has capitalized an influx of millennials, and has created an interconnected set of trails for runners and bikers. There is a fantastic riverwalk that offers amazing views of the James River and the city. The Riverwalk connects the Blackwater Creek trail system to the James River Heritage Trail on Percival’s Island.

The slow gentrification of downtown Lynchburg has led to the creation of some great dining options. Restaurants such as the Depot Grille, Waterstone Pizza, and Shoemakers have outdoor dining options with views of the James River and the hundreds of swifts that inhabit the old factory chimneys by the river. If you’re looking for a more traditional Lynchburg dining experience I would recommend the Texas Tearoom or the Cavalier, both of which are not far from the downtown area. They are both very affordable but only take cash. If you head to the Cavalier I recommend ordering a basket of fries with ranch for the table – you won’t regret it!

Food trucks are on the rise here in the city. There are new hip food trucks such as Uprooted, Sourdough Pizza Company, Tacos Locos, and Mama Crockett’s Cider Donuts. All these food trucks can be found around the downtown area. I would recommend looking online for updated locations on where they might be.

Bird Clubs

The Lynchburg Bird Club was founded in April of 1958 under the direction of Dr. Ruskin Freer. The club was originally founded at Lynchburg College (now the University of Lynchburg), but has since moved its monthly meetings to Randolph College. The LBC meets the second Wednesday of every month from September to May. Dr. Gene Sattler, the current president (as of 2020), runs a hawkwatch on Candler’s Mountain in Campbell County and will occasionally run an owl banding station on the same mountain. As of 2020, Bob Epperson is the current field trip coordinator and in recent years has done a great job at introducing people to new areas within the club’s sphere of birding in the counties of Bedford, Campbell, and Amherst, with trips to other surrounding counties as well.

Christmas Bird Counts

The Lynchburg Bird Club holds the Lynchburg Christmas Bird Count with the University of Lynchburg at the circle’s center. The entirety of Lynchburg is covered in the count circle with portions of Amherst, Campbell, and Bedford within the circle as well. The Lynchburg compiler is John Styrsky, who can be reached at styrsky.j@lynchburg.edu.