Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
two directions. The road to the battlefield and Redoubt #4 will take you past a beaver pond
and creek (a picnic area overlooks part of the pond) where in spring can be found summer
tanager, prothonotary warbler, northern parula warbler, yellow-throated warbler, great cres-
ted flycatcher, and a variety of other woodland species. In winter, sora and yellow rail can
occassionally be heard at this pond. The road ends in an upland pine forest that has brown-
headed nuthatch and pine warbler. Wild turkey may be seen in the field areas during winter.
The other branch of the road leads through the old town site and to the river. The old town
site has many, large live oak trees, and northern parula warbler is abundant here in the spring.
Along the river, a boardwalk trail takes you to views of the delta, distant views of the paper
mills in northern Mobile, and through a cypress forest. Along the river, great crested flycatch-
er can often be seen in great abundance during spring. Also abundant during all the warmer
months are insects, some with ferocious appetites; be prepared for bugs any time after March.
Along the river, you may get views of swallow-tailed kite, tricolored heron, great blue heron,
little blue heron, Caspian tern, barn swallow, yellow-throated warbler, pileated woodpecker,
clapper rail, laughing gull, snowy egret, and other birds.
There are a number of other trails in the park that take you through the woods, along fields,
along the embattlements, and to several ponds. In the woods, birds will be heard much more
easily than they are seen. Camping is available. For more information, write or call Historic
Blakeley Authority, 33707 St. Hwy 225, Spanish Fort, AL 36527, 205-626-0798.
MEAHER STATE PARK
Meaher State Park provides a place to experience the marshland of the Mobile-Tensaw
Rivers Delta where it meets Mobile Bay. Located on US 90/98, Meaher consists of about
1,300 acres of woods and swamp. The park is on the southern side of the highway between
Mobile and Spanish Fort.
A trail through brush leads to a boardwalk that goes out over the water and through some
of the marsh. Here can be seen swamp sparrow, seaside sparrow, and the secretive Henslow's
sparrow in the reeds and brush of the marsh. At the edge of the marsh look for black-crowned
night-heron and yellow-crowned night-heron, and, in winter, look for king rail and sora
among the marsh grasses. Out in the water one can find brown pelican, royal and Caspian
terns, numerous gull species, great blue heron, great egret, and snowy egret. While looking
for birds in the marsh, scan the skies occasionally to look for high-flying peregrine falcons,
particularly in winter and during migration seasons. A few falcons reside in lower Alabama
during the winter, and I have seen one from the boardwalk at Meaher State Park, but it was
high up. Spring migrants will sometimes stop in the woods of the park and along the board-
walk, and yellow-rumped warblers winter here in healthy numbers.
