Scenic Sunday

Wilson Dam

Hanging around dams is fun. Whenever I'm blue or ornery or scattered or feeling lost - or want an adventure! - I'll drive to one and soak it all in. Normally, bird photos from these places are what you see on this blog but today I thought it would be fun to show you the dams themselves.

Wilson Dam is in Florence. Here, on a lucky day you might spy a bald eagle perching on snags high atop the surrounding cliffs just waiting and watching. I've never been that lucky. However, the sheer power of this place is truly awesome. Not to compare these smaller dams with others a gazillion times larger, but no matter the size dams are to be respected. Me? I would never get this close to a dam. See the fishermen? Year round you'll find fishermen in boats rushing up to the dam, cut power and throw in their lines. The swift current quickly shuttles them downstream, and they'll power up and go right back next to the dam. This happens all day long. The assumption can only be that they catch lots of fish, or perhaps they simply enjoy the ride. Or both.

Most certainly this works out for the birds as well. The usual suspects are gulls and cormorants and herons. The American white pelicans show up in the winter months as well to gorge themselves on the fat fish. I'm sure there are other varieties of birds but these are the ones normally seen.

Wheeler Dam

Wheeler Dam is a relatively short drive east. South on Highway 101 at Elgin will take you across the dam to the Alabama Birding Site on the other side. This dam is much closer to the Giraffe Head Tree and it is here that I do my usual pelican watching.

The gulls, cormorants and herons are here, too. As are the fishermen.


There is an island on the west side of Wheeler Dam within which roosts all manner of birds. The herons are circled (I've done this before here, I know), and you can see a few white pelicans on the point preening their feathers, or perhaps just chatting about the day's catches. Gulls dip and soar, plunging into the water for a meal. Cormorants zip by like F-22's, and perch all along the towers. A typical dam day.

For far more interesting views of our world please visit Scenic Sunday.
Have a wonderful day.

Debi