Birds, Birds Everywhere

Hear an interview with the owner of Sylvan Heights!

Waterfowl Park Takes Visitors ‘Around The World’

SCOTLAND NECK, N.C. – Coming out of the education center at the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park & Eco-Center, visitors immediately enter the “International Pen” and find birds from around the world flapping their wings.
Then, from here, you follow the paths of this zoo-like attraction at Scotland Neck, N.C.
“And you take a trip, basically, around the world,” promised Mike Lubbock, the executive director and founder of Sylvan Heights. “We say you go around the world in 18 minutes. What you do is look down through the pens – you go through South America, North America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia. And all, on each continent, those birds only come from that continent.”
Lubbock, 65, built this $2 million zoo about three years ago to allow visitors to see the kinds of rare and exotic birds he has collected from places around the world.
“There’s not many places I haven’t been where waterfowl exists,” Lubbock said. “Waterfowl is our thing. We have 160 species of waterfowl. It’s the largest collection of waterfowl in North America.”

‘ALL MY LIFE’
Originally from Somerset, England, Lubbock has been breeding waterfowl for 45 years.
“I’ve been interested all my life, I guess, since the age of 7,” Lubbock said. “My mother got me interested in wild birds.”
But, until a couple of decades ago, Lubbock had scarcely heard of Scotland Neck, N.C., a small village on the outskirts of Roanoke Rapids.
Back then, Lubbock operated a waterfowl breeding farm with a partner, the late Hank Marion, at Sylva, N.C., near Asheville.
“In the mountains, we were breeding birds,” Lubbock said. “Our main thing was supplying zoos and private people and parks and things with waterfowl. And that’s how we were making our living.”
But staying in the mountains of North Carolina, especially after Marion’s death, didn’t make the greatest sense.
“It was so high up. And the winters were pretty harsh – snow and everything else,” Lubbock said. “And, in the winter, a lot of these waterfowl had to be taken in. You had a lot of ice to contend with. And the birds are not happy.”
Relocating here, in the gentle hills of the North Carolina Piedmont, the winters are more mild, Lubbock said. “It’s easier. It’s not as much work.”

‘VERY UNIQUELY’
Officially making the move to Scotland Neck 18 years ago, Lubbock named his bird breeding farm “Sylvan” to remember Sylva, N.C. But, today, he’s doing more than breeding exotic birds. In 2006, Lubbock opened the waterfowl park to allow visitors to get up-close views of all his feathered friends. The 18-acre park boasts ducks, geese, cuckoo birds and emus. Lots of flamingo. And, in the North America aviary, you can see Hawaiian Geese.
“I wanted to do it very uniquely,” Lubbock said.
Here, you can go inside each pen, representing the continents. “They are all netted over,” Lubbock said, “meaning that birds can fly but predators can’t get them.”
‘BREEDING BIRDS’
Lubbock relies on sponsors to maintain and enhance the park. A playground, for example, was donated to Sylvan Heights by a local Lowes store; it uses recycled tires for mulch.
“Everything they do out here is just environmentally friendly,” said Christina Gordon, the eco-heritage tourism manager for Halifax County, N.C.
Still, Lubbock said, “It costs a lot to upkeep. It costs a lot to feed them. And some of the birds that you need to sell, you need to keep back for breeding.”
Sylvan Heights’ breeding area – not open to the public – boasts 2,000 birds.
Some species are rare, endangered – and not for sale. But, Lubbock said, “We loan them out to various zoos and private people, so that we can breed them and maybe send them back to the wild eventually.”
Waterfowl from Sylvan Heights have helped supply the stock at the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee, Lubbock said. “And even a small zoo like the one up at [Virginia’s] Natural Bridge, they have our birds.”

‘STAND ON ONE LEG’
At the waterfowl park, Lubbock stresses education. He hosts many school field trips.
He also loves to answer questions from visitors.
“One of them is always: ‘Why does a bird stand on one leg?’” Lubbock said. “So the quick answer to that is, ‘If it took the other one away, it would fall over.’ ”
Lubbock laughed.
“But the answer to it, really, is it’s a way of relaxing,” he said. “With a bird, it rests the other leg, and it rests the bird.”

IF YOU GO
What: Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park & Eco-Center
Where: 4963 Hwy 258, Scotland Neck, N.C. 27874 (near Roanoke Rapids) in Halifax County, just off I-95.
When: Open Tuesday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
How much: $7 for adults, $5 for children (ages 3-12) and seniors (over 62). Free admission for children 2 years old and younger.
Info: (252) 826-3186
E-mail:
Web: http://www.shwpark.com