EVENT CAPACITY: 10 (minimum of 6)
EVENT COST: $50
Description: Join Alabama Audubon for the first guided trip on the coast of 2025!
For our first journey, we’ll explore Baldwin County, starting at Weeks Bay for an incredible spectacle of gull, wader, and duck morning flights known in the area! Watch thousands of birds depart from their roost in the bay to the desired feeding locations in the area. After some time here, we’ll caravan to a nearby park to scan the water for both diving and dabbling ducks on Mobile Bay. Next, we will visit the Foley area on backroads and around sod farms in search of open grassland birds that spend winter in the area.
Our last stop will be in the town of Foley, where we’ll visit the Foley Sports Park for a reliable winter visitor (a male Vermilion Flycatcher!) and a restroom break before we sit around a famous bird feeder station at a house in town.
Possibilities / Target Species
(* - uncommon / rare)
Week’s & Mobile Bays
Ring-billed, Herring, Lesser Black-backed Gulls
Forster’s, Caspian, and Royal Terns
Scaup, Redhead, and Ring-necked Ducks
Black, Surf, and White-winged Scoters*
Foley Sod Farm area
American Pipits
Northern Harriers
Red-tailed Hawks
Horned Larks*
Sprague’s Pipit*
Eastern Meadowlarks
American Kestrels
Town of Foley
Bullock’s Oriole*
Baltimore Oriole
Rufous Hummingbird
Black-chinned Hummingbird*
Buff-bellied Hummingbird*
Painted Bunting*
Vermilion Flycatcher*
LOCATION DETAILS / In-person or Online: Parking and admission is free at all locations on this trip. Portapotties are available at our first stop but not again until we stop on our way to Foley, so please plan accordingly.
TRAVEL INFORMATION: Meeting Time and Place
We will be meeting promptly at 7:00am at Pelican Point of Weeks Bay and watching the morning flight before caravanning as a group to our next destination about ten minutes away.
Address:
Pelican Point - Weeks Bay Boat Launch
10321 Co Rd 1
Fairhope, AL 36532
Coordinates: (30.376919, -87.837907)
TRIP LEADERS: Andrew Lydread (703) 606-8956 & Courtney Weatherby
Please contact the trip leader DAY of, if you need help with anything.
Accessibility: This is a self-driven, self-catered event. This is a trip designed with access in mind for most participants with minimal travel outside of the vehicle and manageable, flat stops at each location. At all locations, we will not venture very far from our vehicles, and the group will not travel more than half a mile total for the day. Additionally, walkie-talkies will be provided to all participants, so we can keep in touch between stops, even if we lose service.
Photo Credits & Owner // Andrew Lydeard