Field Trip: Ebenezer Swamp and Limestone Park

Explore this remarkably diverse habitat just a short drive south of the city. Our first stop will be the Ebenezer Swamp Ecological Preserve, a Tupelo gum swamp located near Montevallo on Spring Creek. Extensive, handicap-accessible boardwalks through the swamp provide the birder with intimate views of the diverse plant and bird life of this upland hardwood swamp. The unpaved trail leading to the boardwalk passes through open fields and hardwood and pine thickets. Rich with warblers, woodpeckers, long-legged waders, and woodland songbirds, the swamp will be a fascinating place for our morning stroll.

Our second stop will be nearby Limestone Park, which provides some of the best birding opportunities in the area thanks to a rich mix of habitats, including a Tupelo gum swamp, old fields, wetlands, oak-hickory woods, and ponds. A prairie restoration project led by Birmingham Audubon members Ken Wills and Dick Mills attracts grassland sparrows and American Goldfinches. Water birds, shorebirds, waders, and raptors all show up here regularly, including rarities seldom seen elsewhere in central Alabama. This City of Alabaster park is especially welcoming to birders thanks to a handicap-accessible observation deck that provides excellent views of the wetlands and adjacent swamp. The deck was built as a joint project of the City of Alabaster and Birmingham Audubon.