Watching & Protecting Birds in the North Carolina High Country
Look up. The mountains are full of birds.
Free guided bird walks every week, a Blue Ridge hawk watch every fall, and hands-on conservation across five mountain counties. Beginners very welcome — we'll lend you binoculars.
Upcoming walks
Every event is free and open to everyone.
No membership, no sign-up, no experience needed. Just show up — rain or shine — and walk with people who love birds.
Where we meet & what to bring →- —
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What we do
Enjoy birds. Then help them.
The mission of the High Country Audubon Society is to encourage beginning birders and experts alike in our five-county area to enjoy birds and bird-watching and to engage in conservation, education, and research for the benefit of the birds of western North Carolina.
Hawk Watch 2026
Counting kettles on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Every September our volunteers set up lawn chairs and spotting scopes at a Parkway overlook and count every raptor that rides the thermals south.
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- monarchs, too
A kettle of Broad-winged Hawks, circling up a thermal
Detected overhead
Bobolink · Sept 20, 2024
The HCAS Motus Tower
Our own antenna, listening for migrants.
Since August 9, 2024, our tower at the Appalachian State University Sustainable Development Farm, Ashe County has picked up tagged birds passing through on migration — adding the High Country to an international map of migration.
How Motus works →Who you might meet on a walk
Membership starts at $10 a year.
Dues and donations fund native gardens, wetland restoration, the Sue Wells Research Grant and our Young Birders Scholarship.
$20
Individual
$35
Family
$10
Student