Alabama Front Porches: The official website for Alabama's Black Belt

Off The Porch with Judy and Don Self Beatrice, Monroe County, Alabama (Site 14 on the Piney Woods Birding Trail) Birding Monroe County Lake in the winter when there is less human activity around the lake is guaranteed to produce some interesting birds.  Our visit on January 27, 2011, was no exception.  Birds were literally [...]

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of “To Kill A Mockingbird” the Monroeville/Monroe County Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring “The Birdhouse Project”, symbolizing the theme “Come Home To Monroeville/Monroe County in 2010”.

For a variety of habitats in a compact area, it’s hard to beat the US Corps of Engineers Haines Island Park. Whether you’re inclined to drive, hike, canoe or kayak, Haines Island offers a fantastic opportunity to observe nature in a unique setting. Birding can be spectacular in April and May as Neotropical migrants pause to refuel in the luxuriant hardwoods of the park. The summer months offer over 100 species of breeding birds. Fall again funnels large numbers of migrants through the park. And the thick undergrowth along the lake margins shelter large flocks of finches and sparrows in winter.

Baldwin One of the most brutal massacres in American history took place at Fort Mims during the Creek Indian War. The Creeks, led by Red Eagle, took the fort killing all but about 36 of some 550 in the fort. The Creeks had been armed by the British at Pensacola in this phase of the [...]

Off The Porch with Judy and Don Self Bells Landing Park is another of our favorite places to bird and critter watch. This is another site along the Alabama River that offers a variety of habitats in a compact area. It is easily birded on foot, but putting a canoe or kayak into Tallatchee Creek [...]