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Spring Break

Avery

By Avery
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Avery

Avery

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I’ve got a week off of school next week, so I’m planning to do some birding towards the gulf! So far, Mobile AL and the Florida Panhandle are looking like good prospects. I used eBird to look at possibilities, and there is potential for a good few lifers!

 * rare/just out of season

+ want better looks/ new subspecies

Mottled Duck

Inca Dove*

White-winged Dove

Common Ground Dove

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

King Rail*

Clapper Rail

Yellow Rail**

Black-necked Stilt

American Avocet

Snowy Plover

Wilson’s Plover*

Glaucous Gull+

Forster’s Tern

Royal Tern

Sandwich Tern*

Black Skimmer

Anhinga

Brown Pelican

Tricolored Heron

Reddish Egret

White Ibis

Swallow-tailed Kite

Barn Owl*

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Vermillion Flycatcher*

Brown-headed Nuthatch+

Bachman’s Sparrow

Lark Sparrow*

Seaside Sparrow+

Nelson’s Sparrow

Henslow’s Sparrow+

Bullock’s Oriole

Brewer’s Blackbird+

Boat-tailed Grackle

Painted Bunting

 

Does anyone have some suggestions for spots that could get a couple of these birds at once? 

So far I’ve got Blackwater River State Forest for RCWO, BHNU, and BACS

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Avery

Avery

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The current plan is to start at Dauphin Island, then stop at a few places through Mobile and end at Blackwater State Forest. I went back through with each species and narrowed down the possibilities. The ones I listed above were pulled solely from county bar charts, so a good few are unreasonable to expect ?. But still, good possibility of 13ish lifers!

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floraphile

floraphile

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Good morning, @Avery!  Sorry for not getting back sooner, but I'm just seeing your post.  My grandchildren are off this week for Mardi Gras break, and I am the default babysitter, so I've been a little busy.

Are you flying or driving?  Fort Morgan in Baldwin county is probably the best place in AL to see several of those species at once.  If you are starting in Mobile county, & depending on how much time you have, I would suggest the following:

Mobile Co.

Dauphin Island (DI) is the best place to go by far in Mobile county.  Don't miss the Shell Mounds, Audubon Bird Sanctuary, and the DI airport (it's tiny).  Ft. Gaines if you have loads of time.   

 Blakely Mud Lakes.  These are old industrial waste ponds from an aluminum plant.  You will need a permit (you can get it online) which is good for a year.  Scope required. 

Here is a link:  https://www.aosbirds.org/alabama-birding/blakeley-island/

I wouldn't spend  time in other areas of Mobile county. 

I would suggest taking the Causeway (Hwy 90) rather than I-10 east to FL as you can bird along the way, especially if someone else is driving.  Also, there are good places to eat along the Causeway.  

Baldwin co. (N to S from Causeway/interstate)

5 Rivers Delta Resource Center--on the Causeway;  if time is a constraint, I would skip birding here, but is a nice place to visit and get information on our delta

Meaher State Park--on the Causeway; migrants, shorebirds, songbirds, rails, you name it.  

Bayfront Park/Village Point--another excellent birding spot, 10 minutes from Causeway/I-10.

there are a few little spots here and there as you head south in Baldwin, but if you are only going to one spot in Baldwin co., I would not miss Fort Morgan Historic Site.   You could take the ferry from Dauphin Island and it will deposit you at Fort Morgan, then you can bird the peninsula then north toward the interstate or east along the gulf.  At Ft. Morgan, there are several different areas with different habitats.  You can start birding at the Ferry Launch site.   For warblers, don't miss The Stables area.   

As you drive east off Fort Morgan peninsula, there is Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge and its associated trails.   After coming off the peninsula, there are good birding spots along the gulf as you drive east toward Florida, but, this time of year, traffic is horrendous with Spring Breakers.  

You will see and hear BHNU  anywhere you go that has pine trees!   And that's everywhere here.  For RCWO & BACS, Splinter Hill Bog in north Baldwin co. is the place to go.  @Liam  If you are driving down, it is a bit north of I-65 and could be a stop on the way to Mobile.

I'm sure you have this, but here is a link to our birding tails:   https://alabamabirdingtrails.com/trails/coastal/

I haven't done much birding in the western panhandle (most of mine is done in the eastern panhandle/Big Bend area), since I bird daily right next door here in Baldwin, but Blackwater River State Forest is often mentioned by fellow birders.

Let me know if I can help any further or--barring babysitting duties--help with getting around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Avery

Avery

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45 minutes ago, floraphile said:

Good morning, @Avery!  Sorry for not getting back sooner, but I'm just seeing your post.  My grandchildren are off this week for Mardi Gras break, and I am the default babysitter, so I've been a little busy.

Are you flying or driving?  Fort Morgan in Baldwin county is probably the best place in AL to see several of those species at once.  If you are starting in Mobile county, & depending on how much time you have, I would suggest the following:

Mobile Co.

Dauphin Island (DI) is the best place to go by far in Mobile county.  Don't miss the Shell Mounds, Audubon Bird Sanctuary, and the DI airport (it's tiny).  Ft. Gaines if you have loads of time.   

 Blakely Mud Lakes.  These are old industrial waste ponds from an aluminum plant.  You will need a permit (you can get it online) which is good for a year.  Scope required. 

Here is a link:  https://www.aosbirds.org/alabama-birding/blakeley-island/

I wouldn't spend  time in other areas of Mobile county. 

I would suggest taking the Causeway (Hwy 90) rather than I-10 east to FL as you can bird along the way, especially if someone else is driving.  Also, there are good places to eat along the Causeway.  

Baldwin co. (N to S from Causeway/interstate)

5 Rivers Delta Resource Center--on the Causeway;  if time is a constraint, I would skip birding here, but is a nice place to visit and get information on our delta

Meaher State Park--on the Causeway; migrants, shorebirds, songbirds, rails, you name it.  

Bayfront Park/Village Point--another excellent birding spot, 10 minutes from Causeway/I-10.

there are a few little spots here and there as you head south in Baldwin, but if you are only going to one spot in Baldwin co., I would not miss Fort Morgan Historic Site.   You could take the ferry from Dauphin Island and it will deposit you at Fort Morgan, then you can bird the peninsula then north toward the interstate or east along the gulf.  At Ft. Morgan, there are several different areas with different habitats.  You can start birding at the Ferry Launch site.   For warblers, don't miss The Stables area.   

As you drive east off Fort Morgan peninsula, there is Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge and its associated trails.   After coming off the peninsula, there are good birding spots along the gulf as you drive east toward Florida, but, this time of year, traffic is horrendous with Spring Breakers.  

You will see and hear BHNU  anywhere you go that has pine trees!   And that's everywhere here.  For RCWO & BACS, Splinter Hill Bog in north Baldwin co. is the place to go.  @Liam  If you are driving down, it is a bit north of I-65 and could be a stop on the way to Mobile.

I'm sure you have this, but here is a link to our birding tails:   https://alabamabirdingtrails.com/trails/coastal/

I haven't done much birding in the western panhandle (most of mine is done in the eastern panhandle/Big Bend area), since I bird daily right next door here in Baldwin, but Blackwater River State Forest is often mentioned by fellow birders.

Let me know if I can help any further or--barring babysitting duties--help with getting around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much! This is all great info! I won't be able to hit every spot, but great to know my options! 

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Avery

Avery

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1 hour ago, floraphile said:

You're so welcome.  Happy birding!  

Looks like the weather changed up again, and Thursday is my best option…
Hopefully I’ll get a day where it still makes sense to go!

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floraphile

floraphile

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10 minutes ago, Avery said:

Looks like the weather changed up again, and Thursday is my best option…
Hopefully I’ll get a day where it still makes sense to go!

I think you live near the coast, so you know the adage, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."

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Avery

Avery

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43 minutes ago, floraphile said:

I think you live near the coast, so you know the adage, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."

I think that’s an adage everywhere ? in the east at least. I heard it in Vermont everywhere, and in Tennessee. 

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floraphile

floraphile

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On 3/4/2022 at 12:01 PM, Liam said:

So I don't think Baldwin or Mobile counties have any active RCW clusters. There are Bachman's Sparrow at Splinter Hill Bog (very easy at the TNC preserve), but your best chance for RCW is at Blackwater. You can probably get both species at Blackwater this time of year. When I visited, Bachman's were not singing anymore: https://ebird.org/checklist/S61131135

 

If you don't find the woodpeckers at Blackwater, there is at least one cluster I know of just across the state line from Blackwater (into AL again), in the Conecuh National Forest.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/alabama/about-forest/districts/?cid=fsbdev3_002554

 

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floraphile

floraphile

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I'm not sure if this link will work but there are multiple recent sightings at Blackwater:

https://ebird.org/map/recwoo?neg=true&env.minX=-89.53597632609062&env.minY=29.59999273171002&env.maxX=-84.54818335734062&env.maxY=31.702723329998367&zh=true&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=cur&byr=2022&eyr=2022

 

 

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Avery

Avery

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On 3/4/2022 at 12:01 PM, Liam said:

So I don't think Baldwin or Mobile counties have any active RCW clusters. There are Bachman's Sparrow at Splinter Hill Bog (very easy at the TNC preserve), but your best chance for RCW is at Blackwater. You can probably get both species at Blackwater this time of year. When I visited, Bachman's were not singing anymore: https://ebird.org/checklist/S61131135

 

Got the woodpecker and sparrow at Blackwater! Didn’t see the sparrow, but got recordings of them singing

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