Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
throated sparrow, song sparrow, northern junco, and orange-crowned warbler live in Lagoon
Park. Also, during winter, look for common snipe in the reeds and marshy areas along the
pond edges. It is the only place inside a large town or city where I have readily seen eastern
bluebirds.
To get to the northern part of the park, either go behind the park from the entrance on the
bypass, Eastern Boulevard (US 231), or follow the signs to the Pete Peterson Lodge from the
first intersection south of the bypass on Congressman Dickinson Drive. Watch the open fields
for birds, but walk along the brushy edges of the woods for the most productive birding.
Other than birding, Montgomery does provide visitors with a number of interesting things
to do. Of particular note are the beautiful Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Montgomery
Museum, which share the same park on the eastern bypass. These two facilities and many
smaller art and theater organizations contribute to a cultural richness in Montgomery that is
often not found in cities many times its size. At the very least, when passing through Mont-
gomery, one will want to see a play at the Shakespeare Festival, if it is in season. For inform-
ation on the play schedule, call 205-277-BARD. The Shakespeare Festival has a large pond
in front of it that was designed for domesticated swans; a few years ago, a flock of migrating
Canada geese saw the pond, stopped, and never left. Although these geese were a great at-
traction for many Montgomerians, the developer who built the Festival disliked them because
“his” pond had been designed with only swans in mind. So, in early 1992, the geese were
drugged, removed, sent to private ponds and had their wings clipped so that they could not
return. This incident illustrates the lack of sensitivity wild birds often face and how people
often do not consider wild birds proper parts of their environment.
