SHORELINES

At Fox Creek, volunteer-cut trails supplement power company access roads. "We're also putting in benches, tree identification markers, nesting boxes and native plants that are food sources, like hollies and buttonbush," Morris, an avid birder, notes. "The habitat ranges from brush and woods to open grassland and shoreline — you can spot anything from hawks to hummingbirds." Spring is a good time to see migrating passerines — perching songbirds such as warblers and thrushes. Year-round residents include wading birds, wood ducks and the flashy belted kingfisher. Many of the trail sites also lend themselves to hiking, biking and other recreation. "They're a learning opportunity for our students and an amenity we highlight to attract businesses here," says Cotina Terry of the Randolph County Economic Development Authority. "The trail was an opportunity for our counties to work together," says Mary Patchunka-Smith, executive director of the chamber of commerce in neighboring Clay County. "We're rural and can't do it alone. Anyway, tourists don't care about county lines, they just want to come and play." Nisa Miranda, director of the University of Alabama Center for Economic Development, calls the birding trails "a team-building exercise, a chance for local leaders to get to know each other, sometimes for the first time." "If you're fortunate enough to have a nature-related attraction, you draw tourists that spend more than typical tourists, on meals and lodging and equipment," she says. The number of birders in America is large, and growing: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tallied 46.7 million bird-watchers nationally in 2011, including 17.8 million who are active away from home. The latter category has increased by more than 20 percent since 2001; their birding-related spending is up by more than 45 percent since 2006. These coveted eco-tourists typically have higher levels of education and income. Birders today can call on a wealth of digital resources, from smartphone apps and GPSstamped photos to ebird.org, the Cornell website that crowd-sources information to create a vast, evolving snapshot of bird life in America. At the same time, "it's an antidote to the nature deficit disorder we're all suffering from," says Ann Miller, chairwoman of the birding trails committee of the Birmingham Audubon Society, which organizes regular birding trips all around the state. You don't have to be a seasoned birder to be thrilled by the sight of an endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (a colony lives at the Piedmont Plateau trail's Coosa Wildlife Management Area/Double Bridges site on Lake Mitchell). Or the above-mentioned swallow-tailed kite, which you're likely to see swooping in mid-summer in and around Swift Creek Park in Autauga County on the Piedmont Plateau trail. Or countless other species, rare and familiar. Bird-watching is a bloodless form of hunting that engages the senses and awakens ancient instincts. It's an excuse to spend time in, and focus on, nature. "The main trend of modern life is more and more divorced from nature," Miller observes. "Birding is about getting in touch with reality in a way that makes you aware of the big picture. People share their knowledge freely. It can be very sociable, and it's fun." - Jeff Book Use your smart device to find: more information on Piedmont Plateau Birding Trail piedmontplateaubirdingtrail.com Right: The red-cockaded woodpecker, pictured on Lake Mitchell, is one of the birds that may be seen on the Piedmont Plateau Birding Trail. 6

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