Birdwalk

The first Saturday of each month, the Foothills Bird Club offers a bird walk at either Glenn Hilton Park in Hickory, NC or Riverbend Park in Conover, NC. Each month will have a different focus and we will explore other aspects of nature as well, such as spring wildflowers, butterflies, and other wildlife.

Riverbend Park is the first park ever owned and operated by Catawba County. It encompasses 470+ acres of nicely varied riparian habitat. The bird life is as varied as the habitat. One may find anything from waterfowl to swallows to warblers to raptors and everything in between. The park is located on highway 16--seven miles north of Conover, adjacent to Oxford Dam. The birdwalk here meets at 8:15am at the ranger's station.

Glenn Hilton Park is owned and operated by the city of Hickory. It is not nearly as big as Riverbend Park (only about 20+ acres), but what it lacks in size it makes up for in bird life. There have been 152 species of birds that have been sighted in the park, 34 of which were warblers. In fact, on a few occasions 20+ species of warblers have been seen here in ONE day during fall migration! To get to Glenn Hilton Park from I-40 take exit 123 to Hwy. 321 North and go through Hickory until you come to the stop light in front of Arby's restaurant and turn right (if coming from north of Hickory take Hwy. 321 South to the first stop light past the Catawba River and turn left). This is Old Lenior Rd. then take the first left past the railroad tracks and then an immediate right onto 15th Av. NW. Go to the stop sign and turn left onto 12th St. Dr. NW. Go for about 2.5 miles and the park is on the right.