Alabama: Migration on the Gulf Coast April 15–21, 2024
We birded beaches and woodlands, tidal flats and city parks, tallying seabirds, shorebirds, songbirds, and everything in between.
Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge: A Birdwatcher’s Paradise in North Alabama
North Alabama is fortunate to be home to the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. It is a premier birding site in the region, largely due to the huge numbers of waterfowl that call the refuge their winter home.
Birding in the Black Belt
The first time I took my wife to visit my family home in southwest Alabama, she said it felt like travelling back in time just driving down the road. Spring had brought the deep greens of the fields, the thick leaves of deciduous oaks and the evergreen …
48 Hours of Birding in Birmingham
Best known to most outsiders for the civil rights struggle, Birmingham is also known for a huge iron statue of the Roman god Vulcan, first class medical research, and, increasingly, great food. Missing any of these would be missing the heart of this so …
The Resurgence of Sandhill Cranes in Alabama
Tom Ress, Alabama Birding Trails Ambassador Sandhill cranes are a conspicuous winter bird in parts of Alabama. However, that has not always been the case. The reason? Historically, Sandhill cranes in the eastern population migrated well east of Alabama …
Winter Birding in Alabama
Tom Ress, Alabama Birding Trails Ambassador Ah, the pleasures and pain of winter birding! Winter birdwatching in Alabama can be thrilling, but it can also test the resolve of even the most dedicated birders. Pursuing non-cooperative prey, birders may b …
Birding North Alabama: The Top Spots and Surprises
Landscapes in North Alabama range from tupelo swamps to fields of wildflowers, from expansive oak and hickory forests, to the open waters of Lake Guntersville and the Tennessee River. As the habitats vary through the valley, so do the seasons. Spring b …
Bird-watching Hot Spots in Alabama
Thanks to a long-term project of the Alabama Tourism Department and the Alabama Department of Conservation, Alabama has a much easier way to be part of the great eco-vacation explosion: the Alabama Birding Trails. With over 430 bird species documented …
Resources for Birds
by Joe Watts Since I work with lots of birders, I run across lots of resources. If you’ve ever been in the field, you’ve almost certainly been asked to identify what that red bird with a big crest is (hooray–an easy one, at least in the Eastern U.S.– …
8 Birding Trail Sites Perfect for Fall
Fall migration is getting into full swing. There are many locations throughout Alabama that are genuine hotspots to watch as our feathered friends head south for winter. With 280 sites along all 8 of Alabama Birding Trails, what locations should you pi …
Resources on the Web
More Birding Resources Alabama Coastal BirdFest Come let us show you the wild and beautiful Alabama Coast and join us for some spectacular birding and a wonderful time. Explore the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, experience great Southern hospitality, c …
Ten New Locations Added to Alabama Birding Trails Program
Heflin’s newly named birding trail location. The Alabama Birding Trails program is pleased to announce the addition of 10 new birding trail sites across Alabama, bringing the total number of locations to 280 in 65 counties. The sites include the follow …
2017 Exploring Dauphin Island and the Coastal Birding Trail’s Western Section
Tuesday, April 4, 2017 Dauphin Island, AL After ‘dining,’ using the term loosely, at our normal go-to Dauphin Island eatery (JT’s Sunset Grill), we visited Shell Mound and Cadillac Square. There were essentially NO birds present! However, although we o …
Blakeley Delta Explorer Birding Trip January 18, 2017 (AESB)
We had 47 birders join us for the birding Cruise out of Blakeley Historic State Park on January 18, 2017. Amazingly everyone was there and on the boat EARLY. Our Captain, Steve and his mate, Richard were so helpful and fun too! Mike Bunn, our contac …
Ruffner Mountain Birding Report, October 9, 2016
White-throated Sparrow, photo by Paul H. Franklin A Report on Ruffner Mountain from Scot Duncan It was a chilly morning at the Ruffner Mountain Wetlands this Sunday (checklist below). The pre-dawn was calm, but as the sun rose the winds brought by the …
8 Places You Shouldn’t Miss in East Alabama
Be sure to explore these locations in beautiful East Alabama!
State Park Memories Make Me Smile
By Joe Watts, the president of the Birmingham Audubon Society and a long-time part of the Alabama Birding Trails program and of the Alabama State Park system. This op-ed originally appeared in al.com. State Parks have always mattered to me. I can’t rec …
Fall Migration: Plan A Fun Event to an Alabama Birding Trail
Fall migration is the perfect time to plan a visit to an Alabama Birding Trail! The University of Alabama Center for Economic Development (UACED), The Alabama Tourism Department, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, The Birming …
eBird and Alabama: Details About Which Counties Use It
By Anne G. Miller, President, Alabama Ornithological Society (AOS) The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird database is based on checklists of bird sightings submitted from the field by amateur birders as well as ornithologists. eBird uses these checklis …
A Tribute to Maureen Shaffer
Maureen enjoying the Christmas Bird Count in Gulf Shores, Alabama by Anne Miller, President of Alabama Ornithological Society Note from the Alabama Birding Trails Program: Maureen offered so much to the program, from visiting sites and attending meetin …
A Wake-up Call for Alabama’s Birders
By Anne G. Miller, President, Alabama Ornithological Society This is a wake-up call for Alabama’s birders. Most of us know how important it is for us to contribute our bird sightings to eBird, but too few of us are doing it. Sponsored by the Cornell La …
Ruffner Report – 1 November 2015 – Black-throated Blue Warbler
by R. Scot Duncan After spending about 10 hours prepping for teaching this week, I headed out to Ruffner late this afternoon, despite the gloomy weather to get some fresh (but damp) air. A thin drizzle was falling, just enough to necessitate keeping yo …
Birds aren’t the only colorful thing you’ll see along Alabama’s Birding Trails.
The fall foliage can be amazing! The Alabama Birding Trails highlight the best public locations for watching birds year-round. Find sites by location or by season. Discover “secret” locations from experienced birders. Learn what birds are being reporte …
Autumn Birding in the Black Belt
Off The Porch with Judy and Don Self Autumn Birding at Silver Creek Park, Clarke County and Claiborne Dam Site West Park, Monroe County, Alabama (Sites 8 and 9 respectively on the Piney Woods Birding Trail) These two Corps of Engineers parks are locate …
The Annual Hummer Invasion
by Judy and Don Self No, not the 4-wheeled kind, the winged, 1/10th ounce, southbound kind. Fall migration of the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds is in full swing. It began back in late July, but peaks here at Almosta Farm in mid-September. But those of yo …
Aldridge Botanical Gardens
by Paul H. Franklin Aldridge Gardens is a 30-acre former private home, lake, gardens, and grounds, conveyed to the city of Hoover in 1997 and converted to use as a botanical garden. It features an abundance of Snowflake hydrangeas – a selected variatio …
Sanders Ferry Road
Starting as a semi-suburban two-lane road, Sanders Ferry Rd suddenly changes into open croplands on the south side and semi-open pinewoods on the north. There is excellent birding potential here, and you can reach more farm and field habitat and a sod farm by retracing Sanders Ferry, then turning right on Black Warrior Road. This loop can produce everything from Buff-breasted Sandpipers to Bachman’s Sparrows, with meadowlarks, Dickcissels, and Mississippi Kites thrown in for good measure.
Cypress Lake/Foster Fields
Foster Loop Road is almost impossible to summarize briefly. The loop passes through an almost endless series of habitat types, and thus produces opportunities for an equally varied list of birds. Look for birds of old fields, agricultural lands, roadside scrub, dense pines, cypress swamps, and mixed all-age woodlands. High points: soaring Mississippi Kites, along with Wood Storks in the swamp in summer, Cliff Swallow colonies under I-20/59.
Hale County Catfish Ponds
Hale County is the center of Alabama’s catfish farming industry. These shallow man-made ponds present excellent habitat for swallows; Barn, Cliff, Rough-winged, and Purple Martins breed here, while Tree and Bank swallows are migrants. This is a good area for finding waders, including Wood Storks in summer and fall. You will see Red-winged Blackbirds, Belted Kingfishers, and a variety of shorebirds here.
Birding Old Cahawba Archaeological Park, Dallas County, Alabama
Old Cahawba Archaeological Park near Orville was chosen as the site for the Black Belt Birding Trail Advisory Group’s May meeting and, as a bonus, we conducted a 2-hour bird walk prior to the meeting. Although the Clear Creek Nature Trail is located just west of the Visitor’s Center, we chose to bird the Capitol Reserve. This section of the park is located immediately around the site of the capitol on the southeast side of the park adjacent to the Alabama River. It is level and provides easy access to a nice variety of habitats including mixed bottomland forest with a dense understory, cypress slough, and lawn dotted with mature hardwoods, many festooned with Spanish moss.
Sipsey River Bottoms and Shirley’s Bridges
Shirley’s Bridges span the Sipsey River’s bottomlands in northern Tuscaloosa County. The birding here is spectacular from spring through fall, when the birds are abundant and easily observed from the road’s apron around the bridges. You will hardly believe that so many Prothonotary Warblers, Acadian Flycatchers, Louisiana Waterthrushes, and American Redstarts exist. Also look for Anhingas and Mississippi Kites, both of which breed in the vicinity. This area provides a great birding experience – one of the best in the state.
Birding Old Lock 1 Park & Bashi Creek
by Judy and Don Self Campbells Landing – Bashi Creek Public Use Area With spring migration winding down and the breeding season in full swing, May is a great time to bird southwest Alabama’s floodplain forests. Two of our favorites are Old Lock 1 Park …
Birding Backbone Creek
Off The Porch with Judy and Don Self The many blocks of the David K. Nelson (formerly Demopolis) Wildlife Management Area offer some exceptional birding opportunities. One of our favorites is Backbone Creek in southernmost Greene County. It’s located …
Birding Haines Island Park, Monroe County
by Judy and Don Self For a variety of habitats in a compact area, it’s hard to beat the US Corps of Engineers Haines Island Park. Whether you’re inclined to drive, hike, canoe or kayak, Haines Island offers a fantastic opportunity to observe nature in …
Give the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) a try!
OFF THE PORCH with Judy and Don Self Chipping Sparrows, American Goldfinches, and a lone Pine Warbler cover feeders in our backyard. Don Self Okay, so February is here. Deer and duck season have come and gone; neither of our football teams won the nat …
Winter in Alabama’s Black Belt
OFF THE PORCH with Judy and Don Self Winter kinda sneaks-up on you in west central Alabama. Sometime in the last couple of months the riot of colors that was fall has been replaced with the subtler browns and grays of winter. Even the green of the pine …
Birding the Wetlands Around Jackson
by Judy and Don Self Alabama birders have long enjoyed birding the Jackson Water Treatment Ponds (see page 65 of A Birder’s Guide to Alabama, Porter editor, 2001). But we only recently stumbled upon two additional gems located just 3.5 miles to the wes …
Birding Chickasaw State Park
Off the Porch with Judy and Don Self During a recent Annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Blue-headed vireos, loggerhead shrikes, and hermit thrushes were plentiful, but we had to work for greater yellowlegs and fox and white-crowned sparrows. Bald eagles …
Winter Birding at Monroe County Lake
by Judy and Don Self Beatrice, Monroe County, Alabama (Site 14 on the Piney Woods Birding Trail) Birding Monroe County Lake in the winter when there is less human activity around the lake is guaranteed to produce some interesting birds. Our visit on a …
Birding the Claiborne Dam Site East Park, Monroe County, AL
Map of site: click for larger version. By Don and Judy Self The Claiborne Dam Site East Park US Corps of Engineers facility is one of the few places on the Piney Woods Birding Trail that has it all. In addition to its variety of habitats, it is the t …
Wiregrass Birding Trail Launch
Set for Noon, November 2, 2012 at the Yohollo Mico Walking Trail in Eufaula, Alabama (Barbour County) Dateline (Barbour County, AL; November 2012) – Ten Wiregrass Counties come together this November to launch the Wiregrass Birding Trail. The newly de …
West Alabama Birding Trail Launch
The official trail launch begins at 9:30 a.m. (central) on September 21 at The Tom Bevill Visitor’s Center. Highlights of the event include a Raptor Trek presentation by 4-H Program Coordinator Becky Collier that includes several raptors, including a Bald Eagle. An expert birder will guide an adult bird walk and Lauren Chapman, Regional Extension Agent for 4-H for Hale, Pickens and Tuscaloosa Counties will lead a bird walk and scavenger hunt for children. A Sun Safety Program will also be presented by Patti Presley-Fuller and Denise Shirley with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
Limestone Park Field Trip and Ribbon Cutting
The Birmingham Audubon Society will offer a field trip to Limestone Park on Saturday, August 11. Everyone is invited to meet BAS trip leader Ken Wills at 7 a.m. at the McDonald’s on Highway 31 at the Galleria. Participants will carpool to various loc …
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in the Black Belt
If I were pressed to name my 10 favorite birds, one of the birds on that list would be the Scissor-tailed flycatcher. But they are very, very scarce here in Alabama. Although they have been nesting here for several years, the summer birds are few and f …
App-Highlands Birding Trail Launch May 12
Nine east-central Alabama counties will come together on May 12 to launch the Appalachian Highlands Birding Trail. The newly developed trail is the sixth of eight organized trails that will ultimately cover the state as birding becomes an increasingly …
Still Time for Winter Visitors
I had the opportunity spend a day at beautiful Weiss Lake, near Centre and Leesburg in NE Alabama. What a lovely place — with an abundance of good songbird habitat on the way up, and the extensive lake gave me the opportunity to commune with a reason …
Special Guests appear for Eagle Watchers
For the past twenty-five years, it seems that the number-one form of mid-winter birding in Alabama for most observers has been Bald Eagle-watching. It began with the discovery of a substantial winter roost of the birds at Lake Guntersville and soon spr …
The Best Place (No. 1)
It’s a chilly, bright January day; I’m standing below the Logan-Martin Dam with my wife Eva, and we’re enjoying the great looks we’re getting at the eagles, the Osprey, the gulls, the herons…what a great place! Among the birds present here are Black-cr …
