This morning we headed to Dauphin Island hoping for dry weather and for the birds to be plentiful. We started at the west end and spent almost 2.5 hours walking the beach. It was quite windy but we stayed dry.
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| Sanderling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Juvenile Herring Gull |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Two Reddish Egrets and a Herring Gull |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| Reddish Egrets |
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| Reddish Egrets |
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| Reddish Egrets |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| Great Blue Heron (with a Herring Gull) |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Ring-billed Gull |
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| Sanderling |
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| A fishing boat attracting a lot of pelicans and gulls |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Immature Bald Eagle |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| This was the first of several mushrooms we found on the beach. I had never seen mushrooms on the beach before. |
We then stopped for lunch at
Pirate's Bar and Grill before continuing on to the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. The Bird Sanctuary has about 3 miles of trails that go through a swam, forest, around a small lake, and out to the beach.
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| Alligator right at the end of the observation deck |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Don't let the Great Blue Heron distract you from the alligator |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
After the Bird Sanctuary, we made one last stop near the fort and found quite a few Brown Pelicans.
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| Juvenile Brown Pelican |
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| Adult Brown Pelican |
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| Adult Brown Pelican |
In this next series watch as an Adult Pelican is confronted by a Double-crested Cormorant. Scroll down to see who wins!
By this point, Paul's smart watch registered 6 miles of walking (and I estimate I walked at least another mile), my fitness tracker had registered almost 19,000 steps, and we were tired so we headed back to the hotel to rest for the evening. Tomorrow we would start our journey back home.
Trip Stats:
Filled up once, 2021 Sienna hybrid, 520 miles at 41.3 mpg, $36 at $2.84/gallon plus about 40 miles interstate driving likely at 34 or 35 mpg (41.3 was achieved at mostly 55 mph highway speeds, at 70 get around 34 or 35)
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