Gulf Shore Getaway

Ecotourism summit to highlight Gulf Shores area eco-attractions

State and local Alabama officials are doing more to promote Gulf Coast Alabama ecotourism activities. The latest is a free seminar to be held this Wednesday. An Ecotourism Summit is planned for local businesses to help them to better understand and promote the Gulf Shores and Alabama Gulf Coast areas.

Officials from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Reserve will attend the event and discuss their respective ecotourism programs. Attendees will get insight and updates on programs such as Coastal Cleanup, the state's Clean Marina program and Share the Beach - a program which monitors sea turtle nesting.

Alabama Photographer covers Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge

This month's Popular Photography features an article by guest Columnist George Ponder, who lives in North Alabama. In his article George discusses photography in one of his favorite photo spots, the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge on the Alabama Gulf Coast.

Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge

Living in North Alabama as I do, the Gulf Coast is a convenient vacation spot—only a four-hour drive from my neck of the woods. Typically, I grab the golf bag for our vacations and spend time on the golf course while the wife and kids play in the sand. This year, I decided to leave the golf bag at home and carry the camera bag instead.

For the past two years, the Fort Morgan peninsula has been our destination spot on the Gulf Coast . The peninsula lies on the eastern entrance to Mobile Bay and is the home of the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge. The opportunity to explore this refuge with a camera was too great to pass up.

The Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 and consists of approximately 7,000 acres of coastal lands that range from beach dunes to pine-oak woodlands. The refuge runs along the coasts of both the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay and is home to more than 540 species of animals ranging from herons to egrets to alligators to deer. Birds are the most visible habitant of the refuge and offer tremendous photographic opportunities. I spent my mornings roaming the refuge during our weeklong vacation and barely scratched the surface of what this habitat has to offer.

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Gulf Coast birder literally wrote the book on birds

Chandler Robbins recently attended an Association of Field Ornithologists meeting at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory. He is known for his pioneering work in the field of Ornithology and literally wrote the book on bird identification. His birders reference, Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, is a standard part of birders' field complement worldwide.

Among Mr. Robbins' accomplisments are:

• His original research in the 1980s demonstrated the need to conserve unbroken forest lands for migratory and breeding birds.
• He was one of the first scientists to document the deleterious effects of DDT on birds.
• He founded the annual North American Breeding Bird Survey, which is among the world's leading citizen-science studies of breeding bird populations.
• He authored the standard birders field guide for bird identification: Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification.
• Mr. Robbins has written or co-authored more than 500 publications, books and ornithological studies.

During his visit to the conference Mr. Robbins was interviewed by the Houston Chronicle:

Ornithologist revolutionized the study of birds and their surroundings

Chandler Robbins, 88, has been called the father of modern ornithology.

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Decatur Daily book review: "Birds of Alabama"

Alabama has long been a popular spot for birders. With over 350 species commonly found in the state it's easy to see why.

Now Alabama birders have a new resource on which they can rely to assist them in their forays into the woods and fields. Birds of Alabama focuses the spotlight on Alabama birding, helping birders to locate and identify Alabama's birds.

With the success of this spring's inaugural North Alabama Birding Festival and the growing popularity of the upcoming 2006 Alabama Coastal Birdfest, this new field guide is certain to be a hit.

Lands added to Wildlife/Natural Area

The State of Alabama has used funds from a federal grant in addition to its own to purchase over 2200 acres of additional lands from the Coastal Land Trust and from the Weeks Bay Foundation in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. The Mobile-Tensaw delta is an area rich in the kind of natural beauties typically associated with the deep south. The delta is a region of rivers, marshes and bayous; a rich habitat for wildlife and a popular locale for birders and nature lovers.

For a more in-depth look at the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, have a look at the Kayaking the Mobile-Tensaw Delta web site.

Summer birding in Alabama

Only the most intrepid Gulf Shores area birders are out in these the hottest months of the year. Those who do venture out get to see the year's hatch fledging and taking first flight.

Paul H. Franklin is a naturalist, photographer and director of Samford University's Samford After Sundown programs. He has written a story for today's Birmingham news about Alabama birding opportunities at this time of year:

Great egrets provide great opportunities for birding

As we pass the Fourth of July, we notice that we have reached a birdlife crossroads of a sort in north-central Alabama. Most of our breeding species have completed their nesting cycle.

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