Winter-Spring 2010
February 13: Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Mississippi
Meet at 8:00 am at the Hardee’s on Hwy 188 in Bayou LaBatre. From there we will travel to the Grand Bay NERR facilities in adjacent Mississippi where we can try for Black and Yellow Rails.Be prepared for wet conditions. You will probably want to have WATERPROOF BOOTS. While there we may also get to tour the new Grand Bay Coastal Resources Center Building. Afterwards possible side trips include birding the Bayou LaBatre area including Point aux Pines (possible Rusty Blackbirds) and Coden Belt and Shell Belt Loop Roads for waterbirds, gulls, and terns.
February 27: Gulf Shores Area
Meet at 8 AM at Hardees on Highway 59 in Foley. From there we will travel to Gulf Shores State Park to bird the Lake Shelby/Nature Center facility. Afterwards we will head east to Perdido Pass to look for loons and other seabirds. We will also visit the new Gulf Shores State Park Pier (Note there is a $2 entrance fee to walk onto the pier for birding).
March 13: Claiborne Boat Landing and Haines Island
For our March outing we will try a much farther afield trip to visit some new areas to our north. Claiborne Landing in Monroe County is located on the Alabama River approximately 90 miles (or 2 hours driving) north of Mobile. The location contains numerous uncommon spring wildflowers that reach their southern limit of distribution in Alabama. If time allows we may also visit the Army Corps of Engineering Haines Island Park located a short distant to the north of Claiborne, whose rich bluff woods and ravines have the rare Red Hills Salamander. Since this is a long-distance trip we will meet at the early hour of 7 AM at the Kangaroo Gas Station (formerly Shell) on the east side of Highway 225 directly north of Interstate 65 at Exit 31 in Baldwin County.
March 20: Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuaries work day
Workday at the Goat Trees Reserve. Meet at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 20th at the Goat Trees Reserve (corner of Grant St. and Cadillac Ave.) and spend a few hours
working before breaking for lunch, and some birding, of course! The trails
are in need of clearing and some brush thinning is in order too, especially
in the vicinity of the water drip. If you have them, bring yard tools like
rakes, clippers, garden gloves and mosquito spray. Long handled clippers
will be helpful too. The phragmites has gotten a bit out of hand and our
goal is to open the area above and surrounding the drip to improve
visibility and hopefully make it more enticing to the birds! An ice chest
of cold bottled water will be provided.
We may also need help with the dripper at the Shell Mounds so don't be shy, we'll need your help!
April 3: Dauphin Island –Early Spring Migrants
Meet at 8 AM at Shell Mound Park for early spring neotropical migrants.
April 16 -18: AOS Spring Meeting, Dauphin Island
Check out the AOS website for information on registration, field trips, and schedule of activities.
May 8: Tensaw River Delta
Meet at 8 AM at the Kangaroo Gas Station (formerly Shell) on the east side of Highway 225 directly north of Interstate 65 at Exit 31 in Baldwin County. From there we will explore the numerous boat launch areas of the Tensaw River Delta looking for Kites (Mississippi and Swallow-tailed) and local breeding neotropical migrants like Acadian Flycatcher, Swainson’s Warbler and Red-eyed Vireos.
For directions to locations or if you have any questions, call Howard Horne at (251) 605-9043 or Chazz Hesselein at (251) 666-3118. Field trips may be canceled due to adverse weather or other reasons, so be sure to call Howard or Chazz if in doubt.
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