Avondale Park & Zion Prairie Half-Day Field Trip

Avondale Park is one of the locations hosting a Birmingham Audubon Urban Bird Habitat Initiative, which is the planting of native flowers in the revived formal rose gardens to attract wildlife to the area. The 40-acre park is also rich in local history as it was the site of Birmingham’s first zoo and its famous elephant, Miss Fancy.

Our visit will start out by the rose garden and follow a hill to the pavilion known as the Villa. Open fields, brushy grasses and tree-lined paths will provide varied birding habitat along the way. We hope to see some late fall migrants and common woodland species such as nuthatches, woodpeckers and hawks.

After birding this area, we will caravan to a site near Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport known as Zion Prairie. This former neighborhood was condemned and razed in an airport expansion project. This has left behind a lovely prairie-type habitat which has attracted many bird species that prefer open grasslands. We hope to encounter various sparrows, meadowlarks and other species that enjoy this type of habitat.

Please meet by the rose garden at Avondale Park near 40th Street South at 7a.m. You may contact the trip leaders regarding any questions that you have about this event. Trip leaders: Susan Barrow 205-942-8667 or Greg Harber gharber@mindspring.com.

Photos by Debbie McKenzie.