Turtle
Point Science Center sits on 20
acres of wetlands bordering Big Escambia Creek. Birders will
especially enjoy the 1,650 foot interpretive boardwalk, wetlands
pond and creek. click
here to continue to the Turtle Point site guide.
Solon
Dixon Forestry Center
Article by Rhett Johnson
Getting There:
The Center is
located in the Dixie and Rome communities about 16 miles south of
Andalusia and about 26 miles north of Brewton on U.S. Highway 29.
The entrance road to the Center's facilities is clearly marked
with a large wooden sign located about .25 miles north of the
Covington - Escambia County line on U.S. 29. Birders are welcome,
but are asked to call ahead or stop in before beginning. The
office numbers are (334)222-7779/7778. A local checklist for
birders is available at the Office.
Birding Guide:
Cypress/Tupelo
Pond: Using the entrance
sign as a starting point, there are a number of possible routes
for interested birders. For starters, you might begin by
proceeding north toward the Center about 0.4 miles to a
cypress/tupelo pond (#I) on the right hand side of the road. This
is a good spot to look and listen for kinglets and Blue-Gray
Gnatcatchers in the winter and parula and Prothonotary Warblers in
the spring. Herons and egrets are unusual visitors and the
surrounding pinelands contain Pine Warblers, Eastern Bluebirds,
Prairie Warblers and Indigo Buntings, among others.
Dixon Family Cemetery: From there, a 1.4 mile jaunt takes you
through the Center's campus and to the Dixon family cemetery (#2).
From this high vantage point, several different habitats beckon.
Mature upland hardwood and pine mixtures support a variety of
woodland species including Summer Tanagers, Tufted Titmice,
Carolina Chickadees, Redeyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, Great
Crested Flycatchers and the usual assortment of edge and mixed
forest birds. North and east of the cemetery, a young longleaf
pine stand is usually full of Prairie Warblers, Indigo Buntings,
White-eyed Vireos, and others during the breeding season. You
might notice the burrows of Gopher Tortoises along the sandy verge
of the road and out in the young plantation.
Blue Spring: Turning right and proceeding along the brow of
the hill, take Bee Gum Road down through a mature hardwood forest
occupying the former site of majestic Longleaf Pines. When these
old veterans were logged during the early 1920's and'30's, fire
was excluded from the forest for many ensuing years. Consequently,
the longleaf forest was unable to regenerate itself and the fire
intolerant hardwood forest of today established itself. Our next
stop is about 0.4 mile down Bee Gum Road at the intersection of
Bee Gum and Blue Springs Roads. Another good spot to look and
listen, this area combines mature hardwoods, young brushy
pine/hardwood stands and proximity to a beautiful creek bottom.
Summer Tanagers, Indigo Buntings, Northern Parula Warblers, and
all three species of breeding vireos may often be heard from this
vantage point. A suggested side trip would take you along Blue
Springs Road to the Spring itself (#3). A beautiful clear, cold
spring of water surrounded by mountain laurel lies about .25 miles
from the intersection and the opportunity to cool off there and
see and hear Acadian Flycatchers and other woodland species is
worth the trip.
Blue Creek
Trail: Back at the Bee
Gum/Blue Springs Road intersection, a short 0.25 mile drive along
Bee Gum Road will deposit you at the entrance to Blue Creek
walking trail (#4). This self-guided trail will lead you through a
mixed pine/hardwood forest and along a sparkling spring-fed creek
lined with a rich mixture of huge hardwoods and other creek bottom
species. The remains of an old grist mill create a pleasing
waterfall and the trail leads to the cave from which the creek
issues. Acadian Flycatchers, Hooded Warblers, parulas, and others
are frequent spring residents and it is not unusual to see groups
of Wood Ducks, solitary Great Blue Herons and Green Herons along
the way during the winter.
Blue Pond Road: The
trail loops back to its start and from there, proceed on along Bee
Gum Road through a mature upland hardwood forest and into mature
pines. A drive of 1.4 miles will get you to the intersection of
Davis Ridge and Blue Pond Roads. Turn right on Blue Pond Road and
proceed west for 0.25 miles to a forest opening (#5). This mature
longleaf stand has been maintained in the condition it is in
through the use of fire, a natural part of the life of a longleaf
forest. This forest resembles what most of Alabama must have
looked like to the first European settlers if early travel
accounts are accurate. This longleaf/grass type supports Tufted
Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, and Pine and Prairie Warblers in
abundance. Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, Bluebirds, Summer
Tanagers, pewees, and Great Crested Flycatchers are common"
and this is a good place to hear and see a Bachman’s Sparrow and
other sparrows. gopher tortoises are also common along this sandy
ridge, as are their companions, diamond-backed rattlesnakes.
"Sinkhole":
A little more than 0.5
miles further along Blue Pond Road is one of the Center's most
intriguing attractions. This large sinkhole (#6) is about six
acres in area and over one hundred feet deep. The water arrives
via an aquifer that originates in Mississippi and surfaces here at
the Dixon Center. The depth of the water varies, reaching to 80
feet or more, with sudden sporadic and unpredictable flushes, when
all of the water suddenly empties like someone pulled the plug! It
may take several months or even years for the sink to fill but
only hours to empty. Swallows, swifts, and martins circle the
sinkhole constantly and Belted Kingfishers, herons, and egrets
fish its waters. A variety of waterfowl, particularly diving ducks
like mergansers and grebes and even an occasional loon, stop in to
rest and feed on occasion. The area across the road at this
writing (1994) is in the early stage of succession and supports a
healthy population of Yellow Breasted Chats, Prairie Warblers,
Indigo Buntings, Common Yellowthroats, and White-eyed Vireos.
Another 0.35 miles along Blue Pond will deposit you back on the
Center's entrance road just south of the campus.
Cave Road and the
Cave: For the adventurous,
a second trip through the Center campus will take you to a new
variety of habitats and features, including a cave and an old
growth hardwood river bottom stand. Proceeding I mile north on the
main Center road again through the campus and past the cemetery,
stop at the intersection of Center and Sandbed Road. A small
woodland pond, a mature mixed pine-hardwood stand, a young mixed
pinehardwood stand, and a mature pine stand surround this
intersection, offering a variety of habitats and a corresponding
collection of songbirds. A right turn down Sandbed Road will
take you through a wildlife food plot, where autumn olive shrubs
and a variety of small grains, clovers, and other wildlife foods
usually attract a number of feeding birds. One and one tenth miles
from the Sandbed/Center Road intersection, turn left on Clayroot
Road. Traveling one tenth mile up Clayroot Road, stop at the
Clayroot/Cave Road intersection. This mature upland hardwood stand
is again on an old longleaf pine site. Clay turpentine pot
fragments and "cat faced" stumps will attest to this
fact. A short stroll down Cave Road will lead to a cave complete
with natural chimney (#7). A number of interesting plants can be
found in and around the cave as can numerous marine fossils. The
cave borders the Conecuh River and was almost certainly a haunt of
native Americans. Black vultures have nested in the cave for
decades and a pair of downy chicks are present every May and June.
Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites have been sighted soaring
over the river from here and the surrounding woodland contains a
number of bird species. Clayroot Road leads on west through
another sandy ridge (#8), this one ringed with iron bearing rocks
and dotted with more gopher tortoise dens. This area was a release
site for the Federally protected Eastern Indigo Snake in a study
conducted on the Dixon Center in the early 1980's. Roughly 0.9
mile from the Cave Road, you will enter a five way intersection.
Here you will find a demonstration area for prescribed fire in
upland pines. Areas between the roads represent different burning
regimes, including a "no burn" option. The plant
communities and, subsequently, the bird communities vary from one
area to another.
River Trail: Directly
across the intersection from Clayroot Road is River Trail. About
0.55 miles down this road, you will enter a small parking area and
the beginning points for two self-guided nature trails (#9). Each
leads down a river bluff through several ecotones and into an old
growth hardwood river bottom forest before looping back to the
parking area. There are several state champion trees in this area
and thrushes, vireos, and warblers abound throughout the year.
Bring your sharpest eyes and ears as many of the birds encountered
are high in the canopies! From that point back to the five way
intersection and south on Center Road to the Center parking lot is
about 1.85 miles and it is another 1.6 miles out to U.S. 29. The
fence rows along U.S. 29 north of the Center sign are particularly
productive for birders, especially during the spring migration
period. The intersection of Covington County Road 25 and U.S. 29
at the Rome Community is approximately 1.6 miles from the Center
entrance sign. The pecan orchard on the south side of the highway
often has interesting birding and the fence rows along County Road
25 and the dirt road across from it fill up with Indigo Buntings
and Blue Grosbeaks in the spring and with YeRow-rurnped Warblers
in the fall and winter. The area south of the orchard and the
hayfields and pastures around it offer opportunities to observe a
variety of sparrows, Eastern Meadowlarks, Eastern Bluebirds, and
other open land species on a year round basis. Another 1.35 miles
along U.S. 29 will bring you to another intersection. A right turn
here and a 20 yard walk along a narrow trail to the right of the
dirt road and intersection leads to a small cypress-tupelo pond
(#1O), with the opportunity to observe Wood Ducks, wading birds,
rails and gallinules. Occasional Anhingas, Prothonotary Warblers
and a variety of woodpeckers, kinglets, Eastern Phoebes, Acadian
and Great Crested Flycatchers and other species are also attracted
to this forested wetlands This pond is part of a chain of forested
wetlands and cypress-tupelo ponds strung out along the right hand
side of the dirt road.
All in all, the
Dixon Center offers many opportunities to the serious as well as
the casual birder. Diversity is the key word on this relatively
small forest set inside the boundaries of the Conecuh National
Forest.
Turtle
Point Environmental Science Center
Getting There:
From a starting point at I -
65 exit 69 (Flomaton/Wallace exit) proceed on Highway 113 south
towards Flomaton. Turn right on HWY 31. TPESC is less than one
mile on 31 South behind Hurricane City Park.
From Mobile or Baldwin
County take I-65 to exit 57 (Atmore exit) and go south on HWy 21,
turn left onto Hwy 31 North towards Flomaton. TPESC is located
behind Hurricane Park.
Habitat:
Hardwood Bottom in late
succession, wetland and creek bank areas with some open fields.
Birds:
Many of the regular coastal
plain species can be expected. Thickets along the boardwalk may
attract Swainson's Warbler during breeding season. Barred Owls
have been seen in wooded areas as have Pileated Woodpeckers.
Facilities:
Interpretive center with
restroom facilities, picnic tables, 3 outdoor classrooms which
include a garden gazebo and a covered creek overlook, a front
porch with rocking chairs to observe the front grounds and
gardens.
Comments:
Turtle Point is an
educational facility open to school children of all ages and to
the public. The center interprets the wildlife of the Big Escambia
Creek watershed and the Gulf Coastal Plain region. It sits on 20
acres of wetlands bordering Big Escambia Creek. The Center
features three outdoor classrooms, a touch tank for children, live
animal exhibits, natural history displays, resource library, five
gardens. Birders will especially enjoy the 1,650 foot interpretive
boardwalk, wetlands pond and creek. Open Monday through Friday
8:00 am until 3:00 pm. By appointment only on weekends. Call
Director at 251- 368-5406.
Contact Info:
Turtle Point Environmental
Environmental Science Center
20959 Highway 31 - Flomaton, AL 36441
Office Phone (251) 296-3401 Fax: (251) 296-3402
email: turtlepoint@escambiak12.net
click
here to visit the Turtle Point Home Page
ALABAMA WILDBIRD