Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
There is a red-cockaded woodpecker viewing station just off CR 24 on the way to Open
Pond. At the crest of the small hill between SH 137 and Forest Road 336 down to Open Pond
is an unmarked dirt road to the south. Pull onto this dirt road and drive to a parking area with
an information kiosk about the woodpecker. Visible from the sign are two nest cavity trees.
The birds could be off foraging almost anywhere during the day, so your best chances of see-
ing them here are early in the morning, late in the afternoon, and during nesting season in the
spring, when they will be returning regularly to feed their young.
As of late 1992, there was an active colony of red-cockaded woodpeckers right on the
north side of County Road 4, west of the small town of Wing. Several active nesting trees are
visible next to the road immediately west of where Forest Road 321 turns north from CR 4,
approximately 1.5 miles west of Wing. There is plenty of room to park at the start of FR 321
and in a dirt patch just across the county road from FR 321. Down FR 321, there is a large
pine tree at 0.95 mile; in late 1992 it appeared that woodpeckers were working on building
nests in this tree. Since it takes red-cockaded woodpeckers several years to build a nesting
hole, this tree bears watching in the future. At 1.1 miles from CR 4, FR 321 splits; take the
right fork, FR 321A for 1.5 miles from County Road 4, and you will come to a gate. Approx-
imately 100 feet off into the woods to the right is another nest tree for the woodpecker.
Other nest trees for the red-cockaded woodpecker can be seen from the various roads
through the national forest, but none of those sites have as good a place to stop and observe
as do the two spots described. Particular places to watch for the woodpeckers and their nest-
ing trees are along County Road 4 east of where it hits County Road 11, about 7 miles west
of the good site at FR 321, and along both sides of County Road 24 between the entrance to
Open Pond and FR 337, two miles to the east.
For more information and a map of the Conecuh Trail, write to District Ranger's Office,
Conecuh National Forest, P.O. Box 310, Andalusia, AL 36420; or write to Forest Supervisor,
National Forests in Alabama, 2946 Chestnut Street, Montgomery, AL 36107.
CHOCTAW NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
The Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge is located north of US 84 on the western bank of
the Tombigbee River; it consists of over 4,200 acres of river, swamp, bottomland hardwood,
and open field. The refuge protects the swamps where the Okatuppa and Turkey Creeks come
into the Tombigbee. While not a very large refuge, Choctaw is heavily used by birds, and they
make the most of almost every acre. Thousands of wood ducks nest there, and each winter
there are hundreds of malards and wigeons and lesser numbers of pintails, teal, ring-necked
ducks, gadwalls, and northern shovelers. Spring brings nesting season for the wood ducks
and for hundreds of herons, white ibis, egrets, and anhinga.
