Village Point Park

At approximately 70 acres, Village Point Park Preserve is the largest park in the city of Daphne. A parking lot with bathrooms and a picnic pavilion marks the beginning of a 3,000- foot main trail that takes visitors westward toward Mobile Bay. Along the bay are a pier and an extensive boardwalk where visitors can walk north to Bayfront Park, another Daphne city park that eBird links with Village Point as a single birding hotspot. Mixed pines and hardwoods dominate the property. Yancey Branch flows along the southern boundary of the park, and a small marsh is found near the bay.

Year-round residents include Great Horned and Barred Owls, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Brown-headed Nuthatch and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in the woods and Brown Pelicans and a great variety of terns and herons near the bay and marsh. In winter, a great mix of ducks are visible in the bay, although a scope can be helpful to check out the distant ones.  Gadwall is the dominant winter duck, but Buffleheads are common, both scaups fairly common, and all the scoters possible.  American White Pelicans appear in winter, sometimes in squadrons of more than 100, and small numbers of Horned Grebes are also present then. The spit at the north end of the beach often has a mix of shorebirds, but the best shorebird show comes when the water in the bay is low. Then, shorebirds can be abundant on mudflats offshore. Both adult and young Bald Eagles are frequently on the mudflats or in the air, sometimes right overhead, particularly in winter. Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Yellow-throated Warblers and Northern Parulas breed in the park, and other Alabama summer birds often visit.

Within Village Point Park is D’Olive Cemetery, a burial site of early Daphne settlers. This burial site dates to the early 1800s, making the D’Olives the oldest family in Daphne and one of the oldest in Baldwin County. Several graves remaining in the cemetery bear headstone inscriptions in French.  In addition to its historical significance, the area near the cemetery is often excellent for migrants in spring and fall. Two paths lead through the woods from the cemetery. In spring, they often have Swainson’s Warblers, and in fall they often yield such special birds as Canada Warbler. Migrant birds can also be found near the beach, particularly by the north end of the marsh.

Jackson’s Oak, a massive Live Oak, is at the site where General Andrew Jackson is said to have once bivouacked his troops.

GPS: N30.62872 W-87.91215

Village Point Park Foundation