meat camp creek environmental studies area

Not too far outside of Boone is the community of Meat Camp and hidden off one of the winding roads is a privately owned, 9.5 acre wetland that's an amazing birding area. The owners allow visitors to wander the dense fen and have created boardwalks for crossing through the particularly marshy areas and maintain trimmed grass paths for strolling a 1 mile trail. The brush is allowed to develop naturally so gets quite tall (dwarfing me!) but hikers are able to see Meat Camp Creek which runs through both sides, and an active beaver pond too. If you go, bring binoculars because over 130 species of birds have been recorded here, but don't get frustrated if the brush is too thick for good spotting.

The bird song symphony is awesome.

 Because the growth was so thick while we were there I didn't get photos of the birds we spotted, but we really enjoyed their song while we patiently waited for viewing opportunities  Easily seen though, was a really

nice variety of wildflowers and other blooming & berry-heavy plants.

Once you get through the marsh path you're led to a low, flat field and a fence line that eventually leads back to the small parking spot. Horses, cows and open-field birds enjoy this area. Having recently seen intriguing videos of cows responding to musicians who stopped along the side of the field to perform, Dave was inspired to give this a test. Do cows really respond to music? He sang them a few songs. And did they like it?

Why yes, yes they did...especially these three!

Want to go? Directions and list of spotted birds here.