Dauphin Island, Alabama

Dauphin Island is a barrier island just off the coast of Alabama.  Like many barrier islands it is a fragile ecosystem in a precarious location prone to hurricane damage.  The last hurricane to hit the island was Katrina in August of 2005.  The low lying western end of the island was "rolled over" as sand from the Gulf side swept over the island to the opposite side-in essence moving the island closer to shore.  Most of the ocean front row houses were destroyed.
Despite the damage, every April, these islands are the first land that migrating birds see in their long flight across the Gulf.  If storms or strong headwinds have tired the migrants they "fallout" of the sky in vast numbers to rest and feed in these "migrant traps".  Birders are not far behind and Dauphin is known as one of the best places to be during the spring migration.  Stormy weather is good for birders-bad for the birds. 
Our visit during the first half of April started slow but true to form the first rainy morning produced a good number of birds.  There are a number of good birding locations on the island but Shell Mounds seem to be where everybody eventually ends up. 
I started at the small airport marsh where the Clapper Rails run back and forth like long-beaked chickens.

Along the beaches a number of new Osprey towers have been erected and when the birding was slow the Osprey put on a good show as they set up house-keeping activities:

The hurricane-renovated western end of the island will soon have a new pay beach area which will include a small protected area.  This opens up a good area for shorebirds, gulls, and terns.

On the culinary side there was a good new-bad news situation.  The good news was the first annual Gumbo Cookoff was a great success.  It was suppose to run for three hours at the country club but the crowds were so great that they were beginning to run out in half that time and had to refund tickets to late-arrivals.  I wasn't taking any chances, however, and got there early enough to run through all the booths before they ran out-it was kind of an endurance contest as Edie tried to keep up with me but to no avail.  The bad news was that Mary's Place in nearby Coden was shuttered and closed.  This restaurant, thought to be the oldest in Alabama, opened in 1935 and was known for great food.