Fall 2026 CBC Meeting — Hickory, NC September 24–27, 2026
By Mike Resch
The Fall 2026 CBC Meeting in Hickory, North Carolina is just around the corner. The meeting will be September 24–27 and is timed to be near the peak of fall migration, both for woodland species and raptors. Located an hour from Charlotte and Asheville at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Hickory was recently named one the Best Small Cities in America. We have planned our half-day trips to each of six destinations, and six full-day trips to four destinations especially focused on finding fall woodland migrants as they pass through this scenic part of western NC. In our last fall meeting in Hickory, we found 26 species of warblers and 5 vireo species. That meeting also featured sought-after species like Red Crossbill, Philadelphia Vireo, and Golden-winged Warbler. One of our most popular trips is always to Ridge Junction Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway where ridge and valley formations act as a funnel for southbound migrants. On good days, there could be several hundred migrants passing by; great days can be absolutely spectacular!
Our fall meeting is also timed to experience the peak of fall raptor migration in the Southern Appalachians. Many of North Carolina's premier hawk watch destinations are within easy driving distance of Hickory. During the peak of the season, thousands of Broad-winged Hawks might be seen in a day at several of the region's hawk watch sites. During our last Hickory meeting we tallied nine raptor species, though it was tough to focus on the raptors with all that amazing mountain scenery.
Dinners each evening will be on your own at one of the numerous nearby restaurants. After dinner on Friday and Saturday, we will re-convene at our hotel for a social hour, then settle in to hear from our invited speakers. On Friday, we will hear a presentation from Garrett Rhyne who is the Southeastern Motus Coordinator for American Bird Conservancy. The Motus program consists of an international collaboration of researchers that use miniaturized radio tags and a global network of receiver stations to track the smallest of bird species. His presentation is titled: “Motus: Using Small Technology to Address Hemispheric-Scale Questions on Bird Movements”.
On Saturday evening we will hear from Wayne Ryan who was a CBC grant recipient for his research into changing bird populations in the Appalachians. Wayne's presentation is titled: “Ecological Effects of Watershed Manipulation on Avian Populations in the Southern Appalachian Mountains”. His research was focused on the Coweeta Hydrological Basin in Otto, NC. Following the presentation, we will have our official CBC meeting, including a species tally.
The CBC has reserved a block of rooms for the meeting at the Comfort Inn Conover Hickory, located just outside Hickory. Guests will need to reserve rooms under the Carolina Bird Club block prior to August 27th by calling 828-465-1100. Rooms not reserved by that date will be released back into the hotel's general inventory, and are subject to current rates and availability at the time of booking. Rates are $99 (plus tax) for all standard rooms and $119 (plus tax) for deluxe rooms. It's not too early to make your reservation and lock in the CBC rate.
Online registration begins Saturday, August 15th at 2:00 p.m. and closes Sunday, September 13th at 6 p.m. This is also the last date for any refunds for CBC registration. Also, very important—if you have to cancel, please cancel online or notify the Headquarters Secretary at hq@carolinabirdclub.org so we can give your field trip space to someone on the waiting list. Walk-in registrations are accepted at the meeting.