Bird Blog

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 …

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 …

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.

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.