Birding and Boating

As the water warms, the sun shines brighter and days grow longer, it’s not just fishermen who head to the Alabama Bass Trail lakes in droves. This is peak season for bird watchers. Songbirds of all kinds and colors are headed back to their breeding grounds, so visitors who fish may be treated to dinner and a show when they take to the lake.

The scene may be oddly silent at times as returning birds conserve their energy for the long journey home, but you can expect to hear triumphant trills from birds coming home to Alabama.

From late April through May, be on the lookout for varieties of warblers including black-throated green, black-throated blue and cerulean warblers; wood thrushes; migrating Swainson and gray-cheeked thrushes; and stunning scarlet tanagers. Many are only seen in Alabama on their way to Tennessee or homes farther north. Once the hummingbirds arrive, many native birds are actively nesting and the feathered visitors will have continued on their journey home.

So enjoy them while you can. Keep a pair of binoculars next to your rod and reel, listen for unfamiliar calls, and pause for a moment to seek out a spark of color peeking through the piney woods along the shore.