 Giant
moss-draped live oaks, such as the giant in the
photo at left, are abundant throughout the Park. This tree is
estimated to be approximately 800 years old, and would have been
a mature oak when the Spaniards first visited the shores of Dauphin
Island in 1519.
The Shell Mounds and Dauphin Island in general are renowned "hot-spots"
for observing neotropical migrant birds, and attract birders from
around the U.S. each spring and fall.
Indian Shell Mound Park,
located on the northern shore of Dauphin Island, is maintained
and administered by Alabama Marine Resources Division. The eleven
acres of the park are a botanical treasure-trove found on no other
Gulf barrier island.
Several plant species occurring here are representatives of families
found as far inland as the Appalachian Mountains and from as far
south as Yucatan state, Mexico. Many were probably transported
here by Indian groups hundreds of years ago for medicinal and
culinary purposes.
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| American
Redstart (male) |
The Spring Neo-tropical Migration
(March through May), is my favorite time at the Shell Mound Park.
When conditions are right, the migrants are so exhausted from
the long flight across the Gulf from the Yucatan in Mexico, that
they literally ‘fall-out’ at the first point of land
they reach. Whenever this fantastic event occurs, the Shell Mound
Park is the Place to be!
The ancient live oaks provide the insects and cover that the neotropical
migrants depend on at their first landfall. It is common to see
20 species of warblers here on a good day.
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