Online registration is open for the 17th annual Alabama Coastal BirdFest, a four-day birding and nature festival that draws visitors from across the country to the Alabama Gulf Coast each fall. This year’s event runs Oct. 6-9, with registration having opened Aug. 9 at 8 a.m. for the guided trips, workshops and seminars that make up the festival’s schedule.
BirdFest is headquartered at the 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center on the Battleship Parkway in Baldwin County, but its offerings stretch across the region, from Gulf Shores to Dauphin Island and from Bon Secour to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Organizers have built a schedule around guided birding and nature outings, boat excursions into Mobile Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and the delta, and a lineup of workshops and seminars covering hummingbirds, beginner and advanced birding techniques, nature photography, building a backyard wildlife habitat, and planning national or international birding trips.
Each day of the festival includes walking trips, kayak outings, sunset cruises and field workshops led by experienced guides. On the festival’s fourth day, organizers will host a free, family-friendly Bird & Conservation Expo on the grounds of Coastal Alabama Community College in Fairhope, giving families and casual visitors a chance to take part even if they aren’t registered for the ticketed trips.
The festival returns this year with new programming after the 2020 event was canceled. “After having to cancel BirdFest in 2020, we are very excited to be planning an event for the fall,” said Diana Brewer, South Alabama Land Trust’s development and communications coordinator. “While the history of BirdFest speaks for itself, we are going the extra distance this year to plan new trips and workshops that showcase the beauty and diversity of bird watching, along with the amazing diversity of plants and wildlife in the coastal counties.”
Brewer said several of the newly added offerings are designed to appeal to local residents in addition to the birders who travel from outside the region specifically for the festival. A workshop called “Building a Backyard Habitat” will show participants how to transform their own yards into spaces that attract birds and other wildlife. Organizers have also added a new field workshop at Meaher State Park on the Causeway, where two nature photographers will lead participants through tips on where and how to capture wildlife images.
Alabama Coastal BirdFest has grown over its history into one of the region’s more notable ecotourism draws, bringing birders and nature enthusiasts to explore the coastal habitats that stretch across Baldwin County and beyond. The festival is organized by the South Alabama Land Trust, a nonprofit focused on conserving land and natural resources along the Gulf Coast.
Trips and workshops are expected to fill on a first-come, first-served basis, and organizers encourage those interested in specific outings to register early. The full festival schedule and a link to register are available online at southalabamalandtrust.org/birdfest/. Those with questions can call South Alabama Land Trust at 251-990-5004.