Monte Sano State Park

View from Monte Sano State Park
Monte Sano means "Mountain of Health"

Wednesday, and I was in a funk. No sunshine, no river, no fun all doctors all the time, driving, driving, driving and now my dad is in the hospital with pneumonia. Woe is freakin' me. Whine, whine, whine ... wine. Carroll to the rescue! She e-mails and asks if I can meet her on a mountain somewhere. Yes, a thousand times yes! A fun-filled lunch Friend Fest was exactly what I needed! We chose Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville because she'd never been there and it is very close to where I now live. It's a beautiful twisty drive up up up, then a left onto Monte Sano Boulevard. Once the road plateaus it's a simple straight shot past the television stations and school to a right turn leading to the entrance gate.

My road trip buddy Carroll actually poses for a quick shot at the overlook.

We meet in the parking lot and enjoy hugs and laughs before heading toward the pavilion then on to the overlook. There is a smaller pavilion that adjoins the rock wall you see Carroll sitting on, and that's where we chose to have our birthday picnic. Carroll brought some surprises with the meal and we sat and laughed and caught up on stuff while enjoying the exquisite weather and our grown-up deli happy meal.

Look was someone left up in the pavilion. It was a sign....don't worry, be happy!

Path from the parking lot leading to the larger pavilion.

Signage atop the larger, main pavilion

Large pavilion support beams with graffiti. Makes a mama proud.

Stone walls created with stones from this mountain.

Well-used fireplace in the larger pavilion. How many times have I been here for events? From childhood until today I've enjoyed Girl Scout trips, reunions, gatherings with friends, hiking expeditions, romantic picnics, visits with my parents as a child, visits with friends as an adult. From the looks of this fireplace - there are two in the large pavilion, one on either end - gazillions of people share memories created in this place, on this mountain.

Monte Sano State Park is a gorgeous place to visit. Hiking trails traverse the mountain range from Monte Sano to Green Mountain and back. Picnic spots and pavilions, huge playground for children, cabins for renting, a planetarium, Japanese Garden, birding trails, and hiking trails and places to just sit and think, soak up the peace, soak in nature. Monte Sano State Park has been part of my being since I can remember.

Monte Sano State Park can be found on Facebook, too. There, you'll see more photos from staff and visitors AND some cool-o inside shots of their brand new lodge, above. This was our next stop, me and Carroll, and wow. I'm saving those shots for my next post, but feel free to peruse the AlaPark site for Monte Sano State Park and their Facebook page via my links.

North Alabama Birding Society Outing

The view from Monte Sano Mountain, Huntsville

Eve and I have attended several North Alabama Birding Society outings, and were looking forward to another scheduled a week ago on Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville led by John Ehinger, retired editor of The Huntsville Times. John is an excellent and long-time birder who makes his home atop Monte Sano and now writes about birding and preservation issues in his Al.com blog titled "Bird Droppings."

About 20, give or take, hardy souls met at the top of the mountain in a parking lot close to the Japanese Garden. Monte Sano Mountain rims the east side of the City of Huntsville in North Alabama and makes up part of the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The name means "Mountain of Health" for its obvious benefit of fresh, clean air high above. Monte Sano Mountain is home to Monte Sano State Park, which has recently undergone many upgrades and improvements.

Some sort of woodpecker

What I've yet to report is just how cold it was this early, early morning. So far, each and every birding expedition Eve and I have shared with the Society have been in frigid conditions. One wouldn't normally expect "frigid" in March in Alabama. My hope was that the forest would shield us from the biting winds, but alas. Sadly, the only thing stirring at the beginning of our trek was ... us. The birds, perhaps smarter than us that particular morning, were staying in their warm nests and hidey holes.

We looped around a trail that took us through the Japanese Garden, which houses a lovely Japanese Tea House. Several ornamentals were beginning to bud out - this calls for a return trip, and soon. The trail banked off into deeper woods, then cut down into a low area with running stream. John gave us a list of usual bird sightings along this gorgeous little stream, but there were no birds today. Occasionally a birder would stop and point, which meant we would all stop and strain our eyes to see something - anything - binoculars and cameras at the ready.

John decided to take us to an overlook on the other side of the mountain in hopes of avoiding the strong, cold winds. The overlook was wonderful, affording us all delicious views to the valley far below. The first shot in this post was taken there.

I've decided I'm a terrible birder. Bird calls are beyond me and unless it's an obvious bird my form if identification means taking its photo then coming home to look it up. REAL birders, such as the ones surrounding me that day, knew every twitter and could ID a bird in a flash. That we were desperate to see a bird - ANY BIRD - was evident by all the Mockingbird, Cardinal and Robin sightings, which were announced with glee. At one point a gaggle of birders just KNEW they had spied a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. A tiny bird the same coloration as its surroundings, I've never, ever seen one. The pointing was frantic, and all manner of lenses were seeking this elusive bird. "It's just RIGHT THERE!" "NO!...A LITTLE TO THE LEFT OF THAT BRANCH!" "NO...THE GREEN BRANCH, NOT THE BROWN BRANCH!" (.....we were in a thick forest...how many green and brown branches ARE there???) You get the idea. By this time frostbite was setting in so John decided to try the Land Trust parking lot in another area of the mountain. (...btw, I never saw the kinglet - I think they were simply desperate...)

Eve spotting this huge tree fungus high, high overhead. THIS I could see and ID!

Handsome Mr. Cardinal

Pulling into the Land Trust of Huntsville & North Alabama's parking lot on the west side of Monte Sano Mountain, we stumbled out of our cars to gale force winds. Freezing, frigid, unkind gale force winds. John just laughed and threw up his hands, admitting defeat to the elements. Still, he suggested we walk down to a nearby clearing "just in case" as we were at least hearing more birds at this location. Maybe they were only now beginning to thaw out. Tears streaming, zipping our jackets tightly, we walked the short distance to the clearing.

Eve heard it first. "John, is that a Piliated I hear?" Yes! John agrees and we all look around. I am excited for the first time as I've never seen a Piliated Woodpecker!

Piliated Woodpecker

There he is! "Males have red whisker (malar) and forehead." (Thanks, Cornell Lab of Ornithology - if you click on the Cornell link you'll see a nice shot of a ruby crowned kinget, LOL!) I'm in awe - this one sighting is worth everything this day! I walk down to get a better look and hopefully one decent shot. It's hard with all the branches in the way, but I get a few oky doky shots.

Piliated Woodpecker fleeing the scene

The Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama on Monte Sano Mountain.

The morning sunshine has been kind to us, offering all manner of beautiful lighting. Later, the day will be much warmer but for now we're all frozen and ready to head home to hot coffee or tea, or even hot chocolate...hot shower....hot anything! The sunrise turns the the understory brush into glowing chartreuse fronds - a lovely thing to behold.

Oh, look! It's a Golden Crowned Aves Seeker!

Sorry...couldn't resist showing Eve doing "her thang!" I can't wait to see her photos from our NABS outing! However, you must know we've had two days of absolutely GLORIOUS weather and our tow-headed friend has been out on her new "hog" instead of indoors processing photos. Smart girl! Hope you enjoyed our Spring Outing, Part 2. Have a fantastic Easter weekend with family and friends.