You will see Tricolored Heron in full breeding plumage.

-- Sandy Roe

Meet at the Mobile, Alabama Airport. Plan to arrive by about 12 noon. We will bird our way to Dauphin Island where we spend every night in the same beach house.

We'll start every day with a home cooked breakfast prepared for us in the beach house. Birding today will consist of going to the Dauphin Island hot spots - - Shell Mound, Goat Tree, and the Airport Wetlands. Target birds include Northern Parula, Prothonotary and Worm-eating Warblers, along with Black Rail, Sora, and Hudsonian Godwit.

After checking Shell Mound and Goat Tree for new arrivals, we will board the ferry to Fort Morgan, on the east side of Mobile Bay. We will check out the Banding Area and Bon Secour Refuge. Supper will be at Lambert's, Home of the Throwed Rolls.

We'll check those hot spots again and then head for the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Refuge and the National Seashore. These locations may provide us with target birds like Sandhill Crane, Yellow Rail, American Oystercatcher, and Northern Gannet.

After breakfast and checking the hot spots we head back to Mississippi. The target sites today will be Ocean Springs Cemetery, the Least Tern Project, and a drive the long white beach, all of the time looking for terns, shorebirds, and perhaps marine mammals. Supper will be at a seafood restaurant along the beach.

There will be Piping Plovers on the beaches.

--Tom Amico

Today's birding will be a loop around Mobile Bay with an eye to the water for waterfowl and to the sky for Kites - - Swallow-tailed and Mississippi.

Enjoy a great breakfast, check the hot spots and head toward the airport. This is our last day, so we will try to find any birds that had escaped our ever-probing eyes. The tour will end at the Mobile Airport and your afternoon flights home.

BIRD TREKS third annual birding tour to the Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi will be led by Dan Watkins who has birded this area many times. Dan is an experienced birder and field trip leader, and his wife Jane makes a wonderful breakfast.

Dan Watkins is your Gulf Coast leader.

$1795 per person. Register for this tour and the Southwest Louisiana Tour that immediately precedes it and receive a $200 discount.

Expert guide service, entrance fees, all ground transportation within Alabama and Mississippi, ALL meals, and lodging for 6 nights. ALL tips are also included in the tour fee, except for anything that you may wish to give to your tour leader(s).
Does not include cost of airfare to and from Mobile, Alabama. BIRD TREKS will, upon request, help you obtain the least expensive air transportation. Also not included are the cost of alcoholic beverages and items of a personal nature.

A $400 deposit will assure your space on the tour. The balance is due 1 February 2008. We can take a limited number of people, so please register early.

We offer the services of our exclusive BIRD TREKS travel agent, Lori Heathcote, in arranging your air travel. Lori has 22 years of experience in the travel industry and is a veteran birder. Contact her through Bailey Travel at 1-800-224-5399, or you can e-mail lori@baileytravel.com. By dealing with Lori you have the security of a 24-hour toll-free telephone number in case of any travel emergency. She can also assist you with all pre- and post-tour travel plans.

With written notice more than 60 days prior to the first day of the tour, 100% of your deposit will be refunded, minus a $75 service fee. With 30-60 days notice, you will receive a 50% refund of the full cost of the tour. No refund can be made with less than 30 days notice. You will receive a full refund if you provide a replacement. We strongly recommend that you purchase trip cancellation insurance to protect your investment in case of injury or illness to you or your family prior to or during a tour. Click on the following link to Access America or contact BIRD TREKS for information on obtaining this coverage.