Buckner-Bumpass Park

Aptly named, Buckner-Bumpass Park is situated approximately halfway between the small villages of Buckner and Bumpass. This 19-acre park hosts a playground and a baseball diamond. A small wooden bridge crosses over a creek and leads to the playground and pavilion that are surrounded by hardwoods. Scarlet and summer tanagers, hooded warblers, acadian flycatchers, and red-eyed vireos call out non-stop. The baseball diamond and large open field are at the end of a short road, and like the playground, the area is ringed by trees. Check the field for foraging northern mockingbirds and chipping sparrows as well as the occasional killdeer. If you feel like you’re being watched, it’s probably just the eastern bluebirds and occasional eastern phoebe lining the fence posts. Pine and black-and-white warblers are common, along with Carolina chickadees and northern cardinals. If you happen to hear concentrated cawing of American crows you may want to investigate for a potential barred owl or perhaps a red-shouldered hawk being mobbed. Careful searching on a regular basis is likely to turn up a wide variety of bird species as well as a sprinkling of butterflies, dragonflies and the occasional raccoon or Virginia opossum.