Coastal, Dauphin Island - Bayou La Batre Loop | Mobile | Best Seasons: Fall | Spring
The ancient and storied Goat Trees of Dauphin Island no longer shelter goats but rather harbor the warblers, tanagers and vireos that pay their twice a year visit during migration.
Listed in the National Wetlands Inventory, these small wooded areas host many migrants and residents alike. Bird the trails amongst the large Live Oaks and walk the perimeter streets. According to local legend, these trees served as shelter for the island’s wild goats that climbed the trees at night so they could rest protected from roaming alligators. Thus, the name “Goat Trees.”
Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary purchased these four lots in 2002 and did some minimal clearing lo open the dense underbrush for birds and birders. It is now a habitat protected in perpetuity. This location is very close to Shell Mound Park.
GPS: N30.25333 W-88.10172
If following directions provided in the Coastal Birding Trail booklet, after leaving Shell Mound Park turn left (east) onto Cadillac Avenue and continue east to Grant Street [0.4]. Park on the shoulder out of the traffic.
Amenities Available:
Nearby Sites
Airport, Dauphin Island
Dauphin Island Airport is set in a salt water marsh in which may be found Clapper Rail (common), Virginia Rail and Sora are fairly common(fall and winter), though secretive. Yellow Rail is very rare in winter as is Black Rail most of the year. Nelson …
Battleship Park
Battleship Park presents the birder with a diversity of habitat to explore and a great variety of birds to observe. Pinto Pass and the mudflats of Mobile Bay filled with waterfowl in winter and shorebirds during migration, short grass lawns for dowit …
Bayfront Park
Look for gulls and terns on the pilings in the bay and shorebirds along the shoreline. From the shoreline, walk the boardwalk to an inland marsh. Look closely for Least Bittern and Clapper Rail. During fall and winter, Virginia Rail and Sora are regu …
Bellingrath Gardens
The entire 900-acre complex is a bird sanctuary and there is an observation tower overlooking the Fowl River and salt marsh. Although good year-round, birding potential for neotropical migrants increases during the spring and fall months. Cruises thr …
Blakeley Island – Mud Lakes
Depending on water levels and time of year, the first pond on the right (south) often offers the best conditions for viewing waterfowl like Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, and Northern Shoveler, and various shorebirds, gulls and terns. Th …
Blakeley Island – North Blakeley Disposal Area
The Mud Lakes on Blakeley Island are well known to Alabama birders as one of the best spots in South Alabama for shorebirds and waterfowl. The Island, at the western end of the Mobile Causeway, along the east side of US 90A, can be reached from eithe …