Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing birds can be a bonanza for the birder, it is tragic for the birds, because such storms mean
that many birds will not survive the migration across the Gulf and that the ones that do have
a reduced chance of survival on the rest of their journey.
Many migrating birds make Dauphin Island their first landfall after crossing the Gulf, and
when there is a fallout, the island can be practically covered with birds that make little attempt
to hide, flee, or even get out of the road for cars. Even without a fallout, though, Dauphin
Island birding in the spring can be spectacular. One minute you can be standing under a tree
with nothing in it, and a moment later, a hundred warblers of six or seven different species
will land in that tree. During good days, one can see dozens of species of warblers and vireos
and hundreds of individuals of some species. On one late March day, I saw over four hun-
dred black-and-white warblers within four hours on Dauphin Island. Basically, any warbler
that migrates from the tropics to central and eastern North America can be seen on Dauphin
Island, but for some of the rarer species, it is still a matter of luck. It is impossible to predict
the best time to visit during the spring; conditions and the number of birds can fluctuate from
hour to hour.
Although many bird watchers claim that early to mid-April is best for spring migration on
Dauphin Island, I have had the best luck during the last week of March for warblers, while
April has been better for me for buntings, orioles, tanagers, and dickcissels. From late March
to late April marks the majority of the spring migration, and if you can visit on more than one
day, your chances of seeing a great number of birds and a large variety of species rises sub-
stantially. Other species that are often seen during the spring include rose-breasted grosbeak,
veery, wood thrush, Louisiana waterthrush, northern waterthrush, blue grosbeak, northern
oriole, orchard oriole, scarlet tanager, summer tanager, indigo bunting, painted bunting, vari-
ous species of flycatchers, eastern kingbird, yellow-billed cuckoo, and black-billed cuckoo.
During the summer, magnificent frigatebirds can sometimes be seen out in the Gulf to the
south of Dauphin Island. Sighting one from shore is rare, but a trip out on a boat will greatly
increase one's chances of sighting one. Gray kingbirds are also summer residents. In late
summer, reddish egret can occasionally be found, particularly on the shores along Mississippi
Sound.
