Room With a View: Ravens Make New Home at Hight Bridge

Apparently, one of the steel towers that is part of the construction of historical High Bridge in Prince Edward County has become the new home for some “out of towners.” Nestled in the top of the gigantic structure, but still in plain sight of anybody that walks across the bridge, is a nest of Raven hatchlings. Ravens are not necessarily a common sight in the Piedmont area of Virginia, but more populous in the mountainous regions of the Blue Ridge. A study done by Robert G. Hooper and published in the Wilson Bulletin in 1977 described the Common Raven’s (Corvas corax) habitat as “…a region 80 to 160 km wide extending along the Appalachian Mountains from northern Georgia to northern Pennsylvania.” (1977 Hoover) According to Dr. Michael Stinson of Southside Virginia Community College in a statement recently, “…they have been spreading out into the Piedmont for the last 15 years or so.”

High Bridge the impressively tall, trestlework train bridge that was once a vital link in the route between Petersburg and Lynchburg for the Southside railroad, and a major point of contention for the opposing armies at the end of the War Between the States, is now a historical State Park and much frequented hiking and biking trail for visitors. Standing 126 feet above the Appomattox River bottom at its highest point, High Bridge is likely to feel more like home to its new family of mountain transplants than any place around. With the view they possess of the surrounding countryside, and the river far below winding out of sight, what are the chances the Raven will be leaving its new home on the old bridge? Nevermore!

Special thanks to Bob Flippen for information used in the article, and Kyle Chavis and Elizabeth Garner for the photographs.