Hi All 😊! For those of you new to us, the North Alabama Birdwatchers Society (NABS) is an informal group that focuses on birding in northern Alabama. We have been around since 1976 and are the only birding group in our area to offer a set of regularly scheduled trips each year. We visit a variety of areas across this part of the state during fall, winterand spring, many of which are included on the North Alabama Birding Trail (NABT, https://alabamabirdingtrails.com/). We also have a Facebook group page, North Alabama Birdwatchers Society (NABS), where folks can join NABS, post pics, discuss birds and related subjects, etc. NABS is open to everyone, including beginners, and especially young folks with an interest in birds; there are no membership dues.
Birding with a group such as NABS gives you the opportunity to go out with experienced people who are familiar with the places we visit and who love to share their knowledge. A group such as NABS also provides greater access to certain areas where vehicular traffic is ordinarily not allowed, mostly because of the presence of large numbers of sensitive wildlife such as waterfowl and cranes. NABS submits a formal request each summer for permission to visit several suchareas in Wheeler NWR during our upcoming season. Additionally, we have an annual trip in January to the Guntersville area, one of our stops being a private farm near Guntersville Dam (Jones ‘Hawk Farm’) that is well known for its raptors.
Although the focus is on birds, NABS outings also offer opportunities to become more generally familiar with many of the beautiful and diverse natural areas characteristic of northern Alabama. The places we’ll visit provide excellent opportunities to observe, study, photograph and appreciate a variety of flora and fauna, including wildflowers, trees, insects, reptiles/amphibians, and mammals. Some NABS regulars have considerable knowledge of these other groups and would be glad to answer questions and provide information during trips.
HOW WE OPERATE:
You must be on our email list to qualify to attend trips. This is the only way we can communicate with the entire membership, as many of our members are not on FB. If you need to change your email, send the new one to me at kenphin1990@gmail.com.
Trip Reminders, Attendance Lists, Changes in Plans – During the week of each trip I will send out a trip reminder (Sundays) and start an attendance list for trips that are attendance-regulated (see below). Be watching for it as we can run out of room pretty quickly. Additionally, we may need to change plans, such as canceling due to bad weather (done the day before the trip, as necessary) or low attendance (Wheeler NWR trips, see below).
Attendance and Vehicle Limits – There are 5 attendance-regulated trips, all at Wheeler NWR (AR), all of which take us into restricted areas of the Refuge (behind locked gates), where vehicles are ordinarily not allowed There are 2 hard and fast rules the Refuge holds us to: we can’t take more than five vehicles into restricted areas and we need at least 8 attendees to take a group into those areas. If we break either one of those rules we’ll lose our privileges, which we’ve had for over 2 decades. Restricted areas are behind locked gates and typically where large numbers of waterfowl, cranes and other sensitive wildlife reside during the fall and winter. We will have access to a Refuge van which can carry 10 passengers. NABS limits total attendance to 20. We can fudge a bit, as long as we know in advance we’ll be having a few extra folks and can adhere to our 5-vehicle rule.
Convening for Trips: The protocol for NABS outings is pretty simple. We convene at the designated time at our meetingplace (directions provided in schedule, usually also GPS coordinates), from which we’ll either drive (usually) or walk to our birding area. Typically, we hang around for 10-15 minutes after meeting time before we depart, which gives us time to work out logistics, talk about where we’ll be going, etc.
Trip Guidelines: Our ultimate goal for any NABS outing is to give everyone an opportunity to observe (and hopefully hear) every bird species we encounter; that seldom happens, but we often get pretty close. Cameras are welcome too, although the emphasis is on birding. Our rules of etiquette are few but the ones we do have are important:
1. Be reasonably restrained, as to making noise (no dogs or unruly children);
2. While cameras are most welcome, please don’t let pic-taking disrupt the birding (see ultimate goal above);
3. Be considerate of others as to letting everyone get a chance to see and/or hear birds we encounter. It’s fine to wander around a bit, just be aware of and careful about getting out in front of the group, especially if skittish birds (such as waterfowl) might be caused to flush.
4. Use of song/call recordings to attract birds is up to the discretion of the trip leader. The focus of using such is tied to our main goal of giving everyone a chance to see and/or hear the species we encounter, especially uncommon or difficult-to-observe birds (e.g., Winter Wren). Beyond a certain point, recordings can become a form of harassment for the birds, thus they should be used sparingly. In particular, recordings should not be used around breeding birds, which can cause nest abandonment or even attract predators to a nest.
5. Above all, follow the guidance of the trip leader.
Trip Times and Durations, Equipment, Weather: Almost all of our trips are on Saturdays. Please note that we have different meeting times, depending on time of year: Aug-Oct and April-May meeting time is 7 am, while Nov-March trips will meet at 8 am. In general birding is best, particularly for songbirds, early in the morning, especiallyduring warmer times of the year. Trips to Wheeler and areas that involve more travel (Shoals, Marbut Bend, Guntersville, etc.) typically last until around noon, others usually take 2-3 hours. Bring your binoculars, spotting scopes, cameras, field guides, refreshments, bug repellent and rain gear, as needed. We seldom officially cancel trips; if the weather is bad (heavy rain) or dangerous (icy roads, severe storms) enough to warrant cancellation, we will send out an email notice the day before the trip.
Send your comments, questions and suggestions to Ken or Rufina Ward (256-679-8332 or 3570; kenphin1990@gmail.com, rufina.ward@gmail.com).
North Alabama Birdwatcher's Society 