by jennifer bogo
BACKSEAT BIRDER
Birding trails
have emerged along thousands of miles of highway, leading anyone with
a set of wheels and a pair of binoculars to wildlife hot spots, big and
small. Many maps are fresh off the presses. Grab one, and come along for
the ride!
Lake Champlain Birding Trail
Where:
Vermont and New York.
What:
The first birding trail to cross state lines, the Lake Champlain trail
loops for 300 miles to 87 birding sites in Vermont and New York. Besides
tracing the 110-mile-long lake and its islands, dunes, and cliffs, this
trail crosses a mosaic of dairy farms, marshes, grasslands, and woodlands
as well, showcasing the trail's northeasterly location as a magnet for
wayfaring birds.
Look
for: Pileated woodpecker.
Contact:
Ghostwriters Communications, 802-287-4284, www.lakechamplainbirding.org.
Audubon Niagara Birding Trail
Where:
New York.
What:
The Niagara trail stretches 115 miles from the long, sandy expanses of
Woodlawn Beach State Park on Lake Erie past the historic lighthouse of
Four Mile Creek State Park on Lake Ontario. The trail, which follows the
Niagara River corridor—the first binationally designated Important
Bird Area in North America—includes a stop to observe birds above
and below the great waterfall itself.
Look
for: Bonaparte's gull.
Contact:
Buffalo Audubon, 585-457-3228, www.buffaloaudubon.org.
Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail
Where:
Virginia.
What:
The first functioning leg of the statewide Virginia trail extends
along the coastal plain—tying together more than 225 birding sites
through a series of 18 driving loops that also take in the region's rich
culture and history. Site assessments for a Mountain trail will wrap up
this fall, as nominations for a Central trail spanning Virginia's Piedmont
area begin.
Look
for: Osprey.
Contact:
Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries, 804-367-4335, www.dgif.state.va.us.
Colonial Coast Birding Trail
Where:
Georgia.
What:
The Colonial Coast trail aptly weaves birdwatching into the state's
historical roots, encouraging visitors to stop at Civil War forts and
plantations, as well as at freshwater wetlands, woodlands, and tidal rivers.
Though the driving route parallels Interstate 95, the staffs of visitors'
centers along the way can offer plenty of birdwatching suggestions that
will get both skilled birders and novices off the beaten path.
Look
for: Painted bunting.
Contact:
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, 478-994-1438, www.state.ga.us/dnr/wild/.
Great Florida Birding Trail
Where:
Florida.
What:
The eastern section of the soon-to-be-statewide Florida trail is a network
of 135 sites spread throughout 18 counties, grouped into clusters within
an hour's drive of one another. The layout highlights many sites all but
lost among Florida's vast tourist industry, making many of the state's
470 species, from roseate spoonbills to endangered scrub jays, a cinch
to find.
Look for: Swallow-tailed kite.
Contact:
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 850-488-8755,
www.floridabirdingtrail.com.
Alabama Coastal Birding Trail
Where:
Alabama.
What:
This trail, a series of six loops, represents a variety of ecosystems,
from the beach and sea-oat habitat of Gulf State Park near Perdido Bay
to the largely maritime pine forest of the Dauphin Island Audubon Sanctuary,
a hot spot during spring migration. Up in the Mobile Tensaw delta, you
can abandon your car in favor of a guided swamp tour up Chickasabogue
Creek aboard Wildland Expeditions' Gator Bait.
Look for: Reddish egret.
Contact:
Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, 877-226-9089, www.alabamacoastalbirdingtrail.com.
John James Audubon Birding Trail
Where:
Kentucky.
What:
The first, 35-mile segment of trail starts at John James Audubon State
Park in western Kentucky and boasts a 1,775-acre waterfowl refuge along
the route. Three more driving tours lead birders through agricultural
fields, small caves, and reclaimed mining sites, where they can check
off the more than 200 species on the trail's checklist.
Look for: Prothonotary warbler.
Contact:
West Kentucky Corporation, 270-781-6858, www.thinkwestkentucky.com.
Southern Ohio Birding and Heritage Trail
Where:
Ohio and Kentucky.
What:
The Meledahl Dam in Cincinnati is the starting point for this trail,
which winds through four counties in southwestern Ohio before looping
by ferry into Augusta, Kentucky. The Adams County "barn sampler"
is woven into the Ohio portion of the route as well; quilt patterns that
have been painted on barns throughout the county hark back to the state's
unique heritage.
Look for: Chuck-will's-widow.
Contact:
Planning Adams County's Tomorrow, 937-549-8384.
Oak Leaf Birding Trail
Where:
Wisconsin.
What:
The first complete leg of the Great Wisconsin Birding Trail includes more
than 35 stops in the Milwaukee County Parks system, covering territory
from well-groomed botanical gardens to untamed preserves. An excellent
introduction to birding for urban residents, the trail boasts many sites
with playgrounds, picnic areas, and opportunities for hiking and biking.
Look for: Yellow warbler.
Contact:
Wehr Nature Center, 414-425-8550.
Minnesota's Pine to Prairie Birding Trail
Where:
Minnesota.
What:
Minnesota's first birding trail consists of 43 sites spanning more than
200 miles from pine to prairie in the northwestern part of the state—through
pine forests, deciduous woodlands, tallgrass prairie, aspen parklands,
calcareous fens, bogs, and marshes. The greater prairie chicken and the
three-toed woodpecker are just a few of the numerous species that can
be seen along the way.
Look for: Greater prairie chicken.
Contact:
Fergus Falls Convention and Visitor's Bureau, 800-726-8959, www.mnbirdtrail.com.
Minnesota River Valley Birding Trail
Where:
Minnesota.
What:
This river-valley trail, a project of Audubon Minnesota, encompasses the
Minnesota River watershed from its headwaters near the South Dakota border
to its confluence with the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities. Prairie
species dominate this area, where eastern woodlands meet grasslands, but
wintering Arctic birds and nesting neotropical migrants can be seen as
well.
Look for: Western kingbird.
Contact:
Audubon Minnesota, 651-739-9332, www.birdingtrail.org/.
Great River Birding Trail
Where:
Mississippi River basin states.
What:
More than a dozen maps have been produced to illustrate the parks, overlooks,
and other spots where birders can search out wildlife along both sides
of the 1,366-mile Upper Mississippi River in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa,
Illinois, and Missouri. Sites are now being selected in the five Lower
Mississippi River valley states to connect the trail to the Gulf of Mexico.
Look for: Tundra swan.
Contact:
Upper Mississippi River Campaign, 651-290-1695, www.audubon.org/campaign/umr.
Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail
Where:
Texas.
What:
Often called the great-granddaddy of birding trails, the Texas coastal
trail was the first—and at approximately 2,110 miles, it's still
the biggest—birding trail around. It links more than 300 sites and
41 counties along Texas's Gulf Coast, providing a colorful road map to
well over half of the 600 species found in the state. The Heart of Texas
and High Plains Wildlife Trails will debut in 2003.
Look for: Black skimmer.
Contact:
Texas Parks and Wildlife, 888-892-4737, www.tpwd.state.tx.us.
Great Pikes Peak Birding Trail
Where:
Colorado.
What:
A project of the Aiken Audubon Society, the Great Pikes Peak Birding Trail
will ultimately stretch for hundreds of miles, in El Paso and four other
Colorado counties, unifying new and established birding sites throughout
the Pikes Peak region. This trail is an impressive prelude to the soon-to-come
Great Colorado Birding Trail.
Look for: Lark bunting.
Contact:
Great Pikes Peak Birding Trail, 719-683-7955, www.greatpikespeakbirdingtrail.org.
Great Salt Lake Birding Trails
Where: Utah.
What: Millions of birds use the Great Salt Lake, a vital
part of the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network, during their
annual migrations. Habitats along the Great Salt Lake trails range from
the lake itself, where birders can enjoy avocets, phalaropes, and other
waterbirds, to the Wasatch Mountains, the summer home of the western tanager
and the white-throated swift.
Look for: Snowy plover.
Contact: Wasatch Audubon,
801-621-7595, www.wasatchaudubon.org.
Southeastern Arizona Birding Trail
Where: Arizona.
What: The convergence of four distinct bioregions—the
Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, and the Sierra Madre and the Rocky Mountains—provides
a prime mix of habitats for more than 400 species of birds. Summer is
the richest viewing season, with highlights including elegant trogons,
painted redstarts, and more than a dozen species of hummingbirds, but
the birding is superior at any time of year.
Look for: Broad-billed hummingbird.
Contact:
Southeastern Area Bird Observatory, 520-432-1388, www.seazbirding.com.
Eastern Sierra Birding Trail
Where: California.
What: This trail, designed by a partnership including Eastern
Sierra Audubon, extends 170 miles along the east side of the Sierra Nevada
range, from south of the Owens Lake Nationally Significant Important Bird
Area to Bridgeport, California, north of Mono Lake. Maps to more than
40 sites describe birds by location and season and identify land ownership
and access.
Look for: American avocet.
Contact: Mono Lake Committee,
760-647-6595.
Central Coast Birding Trail
Where: California.
What: This beautiful coastal region provides superb
birding in all seasons and is especially noted for its resident land birds
and migratory waterbirds. Fully exploring this trail requires traveling
to sites in four counties; the sites include Pinnacles National Monument
in Monterey, La Jolla Canyon in Ventura, Barka Slough in Santa Barbara,
and Machesna Wilderness in San Luis Obispo.
Look for: Wilson's warbler.
Contact: Audubon California, 916-481-5332, http://home.att.net/~aibragg/CentralCoastTrail/btmas.htm.
Great Washington Birding Trail
Where: Washington State.
What: The first loop of the Great Washington Birding Trail,
the Cascade Loop, covers much of northwestern and north-central Washington,
leading birders from western farmlands and alpine peaks to sweeping beaches
and maple woodlands. Audubon Washington is planning to have Important
Bird Areas and nature centers grace each developing loop of trail.
Look for: Trumpeter swan.
Contact: Audubon Washington, 866-922-4737,
http://wa.audubon.org.
BLAZING TRAILS
Here's your chance to help build three new birding trails.
Susquehanna River Birding and Wildlife Trail
Where: Pennsylvania.
What: Audubon Pennsylvania is accepting site nominations
for the Susquehanna River trail, which will highlight the state's important
role in history as well as its wildlife as it connects 27 counties from
the border of Maryland to that of New York.
Look for: Belted kingfisher.
Contact: Audubon Pennsylvania, 717-213-6880, http://pa.audubon.org.
Kansas Birding and Prairie Flora Trails
Where: Kansas.
What: Once completed, four new trails in Kansas will encourage
birders to look down as well as up, at prairie grasses underfoot and at
the migratory species wetlands-hopping overhead. Site nominations will
be accepted until May 2003.
Look for: Upland sandpiper.
Contact: Audubon
of Kansas, 785-537-4385, www.kansasaudubon.org.
Oregon Cascade Birding Trail
Where: Oregon.
What: Suggestions are welcome this fall for the Cascade
trail, the first leg of what will eventually be Oregon's statewide birding-trail
system. This trail will trace the dense forests and alpine meadows of
the mountain range from the Columbia River Gorge to the California border.
Look for: White-headed woodpecker.
Contact: Audubon Society of Portland, 503-292-6855.
Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail
by Patricia SharpeGeorgia's Colonial Coast Birding Trail
by Doreen Cubie/photography by Kim HubbardGreat Florida Birding Trail
by Don StapGreat River Birding Trail
by Laura EricksonGreat Washington Birding Trail
by Steve MlodinowLake Champlain Birding Trail
by Ted Levin
For more information about Audubon, call 800-274-4201
or go to www.audubon.org and click
on "Audubon Magazine."
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Backseat
Birder
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A
Birder When on the trail, don't forget
to "flex your birding muscles," says Julie Brashears,
coordinator for the Great Florida Birding Trail. "Traditional
birders outnumber hunters 17 to 1; freshwater anglers, 5 to 1; and
saltwater anglers, 2 to 1," she says, "but they're so
incognito that communities don't recognize their economic impact."
Distinguishing yourself from conventional tourists is even more
important, says Brashears, or you run the risk of encouraging Wal-Mart
construction on the very wetlands you've come to see. Here are some
specific ways to make your purpose known.
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