It had been several years since our last trip down to Dauphin Island - too
long to enjoy all that this quiet island has to offer. Yes, there had been some changes since Hurricane Katrina, but the place was essentially the same- maybe even the restaurants had improved! After driving all the way down from Asheville, it was good to unpack and head out for a meal and a cold beer. This year we coincided with the Alabama Ornithological Society (AOS) on their annual spring visit to the island. Good news because many eyes could find the birds, but bad news because of their gloomy reports on how slow migration was this year. We hit the same birding spots throughout Dauphin Island on a regular and often daily basis, waiting for new birds to appear at their regular dropping off places. With steady south winds, the first couple of days were indeed pretty quiet, so we looked at shorebirds. Katrina had split off the western tip of the island making it inaccessible to developers and birders alike, but there were plenty of shorebirds feeding and roosting on the flats to keep us busy. Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitcher were the common species, but smaller numbers of Whimbrel, Western Sandpiper and Willet kept us working on our shorebird identification. Our most enlightening sighting had to be all 4 small plovers (Snowy, Piping, Wilson's and Semipalmated) in view at one time and yes, they do indeed look different, especially when all standing alongside each other!!

We drove from end to end of Dauphin Island while we waited for the winds to change (as they were reported to do so) and enjoyed a delicious meal of shrimp, gumbo and wine in a nearby condo. Thanks to the Mobile crew for such a wonderful welcome to Dauphin Island.
Thankfully the winds did switch around to a gentle north-westerly causing a small but consistent passage of birds over the next few days. Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Blue and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and blizzards of Indigo Buntings were a daily sight. A few orioles dropped in as well as Wood and Swainson's Thrushes and a couple of Veery- all allowing us very good views. Yellow-billed Cuckoos were easy to see, especially the one that we picked up dead on the road- and that may still be in the freezer of the hotel!! Ooops! Warblers were notable by their absence although we finished the trip with 18 species. However some were in single digits- most odd for spring Gulf Coast migration. Who comes away from DI having only seen 1 American Redstart?

Our ferry trip over to Fort Morgan was most enjoyable and it was here that we hit our biggest fall-out of migrants- all under the watchful eye of a Merlin. Scarlet Tanagers were like red light bulbs in the pines while Blue Grosbeaks fed along the shoreline- most strange. Other highlights were the three male Bobolinks that stayed at Fort Gaines for several days, 3 White-winged Doves that flew over Fort Morgan and 3 Swallow-tailed Kites that made a brief appearance over the campground. Clapper Rails were easy to see at the Airport and a Reddish Egret or two co-mingled with the beach-goers on the beautiful white sandy beaches.
Despite the slow spring migration this year, we still had a good and fairly productive trip to one of my favorite low-key spring migration spots. We finished with about 130 species or so- not bad considering we hardly left the island. Let's hope that Dauphin Island will be as good (or better) during next year's spring migration.

Simon Thompson