BIRDS IN FOCUS
May 15, 2006
By Norma and Bill Siebenheller

     If rising gas prices are getting you down and you think you can’t drive to any prime local birding sites without breaking the piggy bank, take heart: One of the most productive destinations we know of is right here in town. We call it the Hospital Fields.
    We've mentioned this site often in this column but we can’t recall ever focusing on it specifically before. Now, with many people thinking twice before setting out on longer trips, we thought it might be a good idea to let would-be birders know just how rich an area this is, and how much you can see there on a short morning walk.
    The land in question lies between the Transylvania Hospital and the county sports complex behind Pisgah Forest school. It isn’t large – using the bike trail, you can get from one end to the other in a matter of minutes – but it is dense with brushy vegetation, crisscrossed by overgrown ditches and shaded by tall trees at one end. Footpaths wind through the various habitats, enabling observers to wander for hours without ever retracing their steps.
    Spring migration, just winding down now, offers some of the most exciting birding opportunities at Hospital Fields, but bird life doesn’t cease when the migrants have gone. Many different species make their nests at this place – not only common backyard birds like towhees and cardinals, but sought after surprises such as yellow-breasted chats and white-eyed vireos.
    Indigo buntings nest in the hedgerows, yellow warblers in small trees near the school, common yellowthroats in the scrubby fields. Willow flycatchers breed in bushes at the edge of the railroad tracks, or next to the baseball field. Green herons raise young in a ditch within sight of the ballplayers. New nest boxes (we don’t know who to thank for these, but we were delighted to see them) are being used by tree swallows and house wrens.
    Nearer the hospital, American redstarts share the taller trees with cedar waxwings and red-eyed vireos, while cedar waxwings search for a spot they can call their own in the same neighborhood.
     In summer, when the young of all these and many more nesting species have fledged and are beginning to explore their world, a walk through the Hospital Fields is a quick course in the family life of birds.
    Autumn migration is just as exciting as spring, as warblers in muted fall plumage are followed by many species of lookalike sparrows, some of them very rare in WNC. The whole progression lasts more than two months, from early September until well into November.
    Even in winter the brushy acres at Hospital Fields are alive with birds as sparrows, finches and their relatives seek out the millions of nutritious seeds that persist through the season, while robins, bluebirds, waxwings and the like strip the hedgerow bushes of berries and other small fruits.
    Informal lists kept by us and other members of the local bird club confirm that more than 150 different species have been seen at Hospital Fields over the past 15 years. Included among these are some of the county’s rarest birds: both Connecticut and mourning warblers, plus LeConte’s, Henslow’s, and clay-colored sparrows have been found there. Several of these have made return visits in succeeding years.
    This incredibly rich site has been reduced in size over the past decade as additional soccer fields have been built near the school, and several medical buildings erected at the hospital end. But while these were all needed and worthwhile projects, we’d like to think that a way could be found to protect the rest of the land for wildlife. Especially now, with the bike trail winding right through the site, it would seem desirable to maintain the “country” feel that still pervades the area and makes a walk there – or a bike ride – so very enjoyable.
    Yes, there is a lot of public land in Transylvania already, and we are grateful for it all. But in a county so heavily wooded, the Hospital Fields are unique in offering a scrubby, brushy habitat, along with a small belt of woodland. They thus attract many species of birds that cannot easily be found elsewhere in the immediate area.
    And then there is that proximity to town. You don’t need much gas to get there. Many Brevard residents can even walk to the site from their homes. How can you beat that?