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Bird Watching on the C&O Canal

    Bird watching has become one of America's favorite pastimes with millions of people armed with notebooks, cameras, recorders and binoculars heading out into backyards and local parks coast to coast. With 103 natural species (and counting) of birds, the towpath along the C&O Canal provides easy access to one of Maryland's most productive bird study areas.
     With the come back of the Bald Eagle many visitors to the C&O are getting their first look at our National Bird in flight as it lives and feeds along the Potomac River . Sightings as far upstream as the 162 Mile Marker now bring the latest count to 9 birds.
     From the rarely seen Peregrine Falcon to the noisy Red-bellied Woodpecker, you can fill countless days following the sound of those elusive Canal Birds.

News

The National Audubon Society has completed the 2008 C&O Canal Midwinter Bird Survey. Since 1999 the survey has provided very interesting comparative distribution information of birds on the C&O. I'll post the results of that survey as soon as it is released. You can download past results from 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007

Notes

I love the winter time on the C&O more then any other time of the year. In the winter you can see more birds as well as other animals without those pesky insects trying to eat you alive.