Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
lands, particularly the national forests, you will have to compete with hunters for use of the
woods. During hunting seasons, other areas such as state parks and certain wildlife refuges
make safer places to bird. Although it is a rare occurrence, winter storms with dangerous ice
and snow do occur here, but such events are so infrequent as to be major news. Even cursory
reviews of the weather reports will alert you to one of these rare storms.
Spring and autumn are great seasons for birding, as prime migration routes for many spe-
cies are in Alabama and Mississippi. Spring along the Gulf coast can bring a wealth of song-
bird species, and early fall at Mobile Bay is the staging area for the southern migration of
terns, sometimes numbering in the thousands at one time. Waterfowl that winter in South
America can put on spring migration displays that are truly awesome; groupings of up to
100,000 lesser scaup have been seen off the shores of Alabama, and large gatherings of ducks
along the wetlands of the Mississippi flyway in Mississippi can be equally impressive.
The birding rewards can be great in these two states; just use common sense and be pre-
pared for any possibilities in weather, plants, insects, or terrain. Although inconvenient, and
occasionally dangerous to humans, the bothersome life forms of the deep South are indicat-
ors of the great diversity of life here.
