Birding Alabama

Body of water near Florida Short Rd near Guntersville, AL 3-16-10

I birded my way to Alabama counting vultures and hawks along the highway. In a little over three hours we arrive at my friend Ruth's house and are greeted warmly by her family. I have known Ruth and Ron since before we were both married. She and I helped each other through pregnancies and childrearing. Now all these years later we are still friends. Though we may only see each other once a year we always feel comfortable with one another and get very easily back into whatever conversation we choose. She is such a good friend that she does not even mind me leaving first thing the next morning to go birding with Matt Morrow, a young man I met through my blog. Matt will be coming to Arizona soon to see owls and I hope to go birding with him here.

I awaken early on Tuesday, March 16 to another gray and gloomy sky. Still, it does not dampen my sprits as I dress, leaving Gus behind to visit with our friends. I meet Emma in the kitchen. Emma is the granddaughter of Ruth and very bright. I have known her since she was born. She and I have kept up bit of a friendship over the past 10 years of her growing up and I am so happy to have her going birding with me. I remind her to dress warmly and bring dry socks and shoes in case her feet get wet. We leave the house and head south to Guntersville, about an hour away from us.

Pine Warbler near Guntersville, AL 3-16-10

On our way to meet Matt we stop at a parking lot after crossing a causeway. Before us the dark pewter water ripples through the tall green pines. I pause in my trek to the water's edge to photograph a pine warbler down in he grass. It is a small gem amongst all the large water birds we will see today. Then Emma and I draw near the water’s edge where we see hundreds of cormorants and seagulls floating in and flying over the gloomy and tossing waters. The lighting is terrible for photography, so we make a quick count, then get back on the road. I am eager to meet Matt!

Matt and Emma 3-16-10

We finally meet up with him at Lake Guntersville Boat landing. As soon as we get out of the car Emma announces that she is cold. In spite of my warning, she did not bring an extra jacket. Fortunately for her, I have one she can wear in the car. I greet Matt with a hug. He is taller than I expected. I sense his gentle sprit right away. I start chattering like a magpie and then we turn and start looking for birds.

The first bird we see is a Great Blue Heron wading belly deep in the water. Emma is duly impressed by the bird, but quickly looses interest and starts clambering around the banks and the boat docks. “Don’t tumble into that water,” I admonish her. “I don’t want to have to fish you out of there!” Emma smiles and flits about like a water sprite or a butterfly as if she is not aware that there are gloomy skies above. She is her own little ray of sunshine on this gray day.

While Emma plays, Matt and I count birds. While I only have binoculars, Matt has a spotting scope. I see the flock of Canada geese flying overhead. I can see a few Double–crested Cormorants fly by. Coots are everywhere like fleas on the water but we need Matt’s scope to see the Common Loons far out over the expanse of gray water. We can also see purple martins flying. Then Matt finds Horned Grebes for me! This is my first Life Bird* of the day, number 372! As if to echo my elation a Carolina wren bursts into song from the forest edge. The liquid notes fill the air around us and then a Bufflehead pops up right in front of us! Who cares about the grayness, this is a great day! In the lagoon behind us Matt shows both Emma and I the black-crowned night herons he had scoped out before we arrived. Then, as we return to our cars a Kingfisher makes its appearance at the forest edge. When we focus our bins on it, it flies around the bend and out of sight. With most of the birds counted in this location, we moved on to the south end of Guntersville Dam.

The Guntersville Dam South is where I was suppose to meet Matt originally, but I am glad we changed our plans and met at the boat landing. I could have found my way almost here, but I might have missed the final turn which is a nondescript back road that winds down through forests and fields. I must say that in spite of the gloomy day I am quite surprised by the rolling hills and deep forests of Alabama. I expected it to be all flat swamp land. At least in this part of the state it is not.

Matt brought me here to see if we could find a Red-headed woodpecker. When I first left on this trip, that was my one target bird. I think I may have seen one when I was a teenager in Connecticut, but I am not sure and I do not have the species on my Life List. However, the next bird I add to my Alabama list is this Bonaparte’s gull. I have only seen it one other time in 2006 at the Bear River Bird Refuge near Brigham City, UT. It is a lovely little bird with delicate wings. Matt says you can tell it by its tern-like quality and the triangular white patches on its wingtips. I watch the exquisite bird fly by, a graceful note in this gray day. All around us the birds are wheeling and calling. A cold wind blows over the water. I pull on my knit gloves and keep on watching. After awhile we move away from the water’s edge towards the wooded part of this location. As we are walking down the paved roadway towards a trail I see a bird at the base of a large tree. As Matt and I get our bins on it, Matt exclaims, “There it is! There is the Red-headed Woodpecker!”

And sure enough, there is my Red-headed Woodpecker, Life Bird* number 373! I am amazed by the bold blocks of color. In true woodpecker fashion, it clings to the bark of the tree and works its way up the trunk to the branches, searching the bark for a meal. When we draw near the woodpecker uses the tree as a shield and keeps the tree between us and it working its way around the circumference.

We continue down the road fully aware of the time crunch. I promised my friends I would be back by noontime for lunch. Already the morning is getting way from us. Around us the sky and the forest is full of vultures. If you love vultures, then you need to come here, because I counted at least 30 black vultures and 12 turkey vultures, and those are conservative numbers.

They eye us hungrily as we walked by. It is decided that we do not have time to go for a hike down the trail and so we work our way back to the waters edge where we find killdeer, an eastern bluebird, a junco, an American goldfinch, and a Tufted Titmouse.

A downy woodpecker clings to the bark of this tree. I smile to see this “common” bird, for I have not seen one in a long time. Then, just as we are about to get in our cars to leave matt spots a pair of juvenile Bald Eagles over the water. I try to get a shot of them and I do, but they are so far down the river and the light is so poor that the photos are not worth showing. Still, I come away with two life birds for the day.

But I am not done yet. We follow Matt to the Rt. 431 Pilings along the Tennessee River Bridge where he points out a Lesser Black-back Gull asleep on one of them. Life Bird* number 374! Three Lifers for the day!

Before we leave, I hand Emma my Nikon D80 and let her take a picture of Matt and I. Matt is a gentle soul and a gentleman. I so enjoyed his company. He is very knowledgeable of the birds in his area and was a tremendous help in showing them to Emma and I. He was immensely patient with both of us, and I look forward to birding with him again.

We drive home tired but happy and just barely in time for lunch. The rest of the day is spent with Ruth and Ron. We go out to dinner that evening, then come home and chat before going off to bed. Of course, I counted birds in Ruth's yard all three days I was there. It was at her house that I saw Cardinals, Cowbirds, House Finches, White –throated and Song Sparrows, Mockingbirds and Mourning doves.

The next morning it is time to say good-bye. As we stand on the front porch with all our stuff in the car I throw my arms around Ruth's neck and suddenly the dam breaks. I am sobbing on her shoulder and she and I both know that it isn’t just because I am saying good-bye to her. Ruth knows she is getting all the tears I had held back in Kentucky. Now I am in a safe place. Now they flow freely on the shoulder of my good friend. Now I WILL cry.

Ruth and Kathie 3-17-10

And Ruth pats my back and tells me she loves me and understands. Then Gus takes this picture of us and we get in our car and start driving and once again I start to count the birds.

Alabama Birding List:

1. American Robin
2. Turkey vulture
3. European Starling
4. Blue Jay
5. Northern Mockingbird
6. Northern Cardinal
7. Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored)
8. Mourning dove
9. Carolina chickadee
10. Red-winged Blackbird
11. Song-sparrow
12. Ring-billed gull
13. Pine Warbler
14. Double-crested cormorant
15. American Coot
16. Carolina Wren
17. Bufflehead
18. Canada goose
19. Tufted Titmouse
20. Horned Grebe*
21. Herring gull
22. Great blue heron
23. Black-crowned Night heron
24. Belted Kingfisher
25. Purple martin
26. common Loon
27. Red-bellied woodpecker
28. Cedar Waxwing
29. Bonaparte’s gull
30. American goldfinch
31. Killdeer
32. Red-headed woodpecker*
33. Northern flicker
34. American kestrel
35. Eastern bluebird
36. Downy woodpecker
37. Bald Eagle
38. Black vulture
39. White-breasted Nuthatch
40. Lesser Black-backed gull*
41. Pied-billed Grebe
42. House finch
43. Chipping sparrow
44. Brown-headed cowbird
45. American Crow
46. White-throated sparrow
47. Eastern meadowlark

*Life Birds-the first time I have seen this particular species in my life.

For More information on birding in Alabama and the Guntersville area click on the following links:

North Alabama Birding Trail

Guntersville State Park

Guntersville Peninsula