Venture to
Dauphin Island, AL
April 16-21, 2010
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
Birds
(seen and/or heard)
Common Loon
Eastern Kingbird
Northern Gannet
Loggerhead Shrike
Brown Pelican
White-eyed Vireo
Double-crested Cormorant
Yellow-throated Vireo
Great Blue Heron
Blue-headed Vireo
Great Egret
Red-eyed Vireo
Snowy Egret
Blue Jay
Little Blue Heron
Fish Crow
Tricolored Heron
Purple Martin
Reddish Egret
Tree Swallow
Cattle Egret
Cliff Swallow
Green Heron
Barn Swallow
Mallard
Carolina Chickadee
Mottled Duck
Carolina Wren
Lesser Scaup
Marsh Wren (Heard)
Red-breasted Merganser
House Wren
Osprey
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swallow-tailed Kite
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Broad-winged Hawk
Eastern Bluebird
Red-tailed Hawk
Veery
Merlin
Swainson’s Thrush
Clapper Rail
Wood Thrush
Sora
Gray Catbird
Black-bellied Plover
Northern Mockingbird
Snowy Plover
Brown Thrasher
Wilson’s Plover
Cedar Waxwing
Semipalmated Plover
European Starling
Piping Plover
Tennessee Warbler
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Solitary Sandpiper
Black-throated Green Warbler
Willet
Yellow-throated Warbler
Spotted Sandpiper
Pine Warbler
Whimbrel
Palm Warbler
Ruddy Turnstone
Blackpoll Warbler
Sanderling
Black-and-white Warbler
Western Sandpiper
American Redstart
Least Sandpiper
Prothonotary Warbler
Dunlin
Worm-eating Warbler
Short-billed Dowitcher
Ovenbird
Long-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Louisiana Waterthrush
Ring-billed Gull
Kentucky Warbler
Herring Gull
Common Yellowthroat
Great Black-backed Gull
Hooded Warbler
Gull-billed Tern
Summer Tanager
Caspian Tern
Scarlet Tanager
Royal Tern
Chipping Sparrow
Sandwich Tern
Savannah Sparrow
Forster's Tern
Seaside Sparrow
Least Tern
Swamp Sparrow
Black Skimmer
Eastern Towhee
Rock Dove
White-throated Sparrow
White-winged Dove
Northern Cardinal
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Mourning Dove
Blue Grosbeak
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Indigo Bunting
Common Nighthawk
Bobolink
Chimney Swift
Red-winged Blackbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Belted Kingfisher
Common Grackle
Red-headed Woodpecker
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Orchard Oriole
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Baltimore Oriole
Downy Woodpecker
House Finch
Pileated Woodpecker
House Sparrow
Great Crested Flycatcher
Other creatures
Mammals
Gray Squirrel
Red Fox
Inshore Bottle-nosed Dolphin
Cotton Rat sp
Raccoon
Reptiles and
Amphibians
American Alligator
Skink sp
Slider sp
Lizard sp
Eastern Spadefoot Toad
Butterflies
Giant Swallowtail
Cloudless SUlphur
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Silver-spotted Skipper
Palamades Swallowtail
Monarch
| Birds | |
| Canada Goose | Black-throated Blue Warbler |
| Turkey Vulture | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Broad-winged Hawk | Black-throated Green Warbler |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Blackburnian Warbler |
| Wild Turkey | Yellow-throated Warbler (Hd) |
| Mourning Dove | Cerulean Warbler (2) |
| Barred Owl (Hd) | Yellow-throated Warbler |
| Belted Kingfisher | Black-and-white Warbler |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | American Redstart |
| Downy Woodpecker | Worm-eating Warbler |
| Pileated Woodpecker | Ovenbird |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | Hooded Warbler (Hd) |
| Barn Swallow | Scarlet Tanager |
| Blue Jay | Northern Cardinal |
| American Crow | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| Northern Raven | Indigo Bunting |
| Carolina Chickadee | Eastern Towhee |
| Tufted Titmouse | Song Sparrow |
| Carolina Wren | White-throated Sparrow |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Dark-eyed Junco |
| American Robin | Red-winged Blackbird |
| European Starling | Common Grackle |
| Blue-headed Vireo | Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Red-eyed Vireo | Orchard Oriole |
| Golden-winged Warbler | American Goldfinch |
| Butterflies | |
| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail | West Virginia White |
| Red-spotted Purple | Silver-spotted Skipper |
| Spring Azure | |