Fall migration is the perfect time to visit an Alabama Birding Trail, and Alabama State Parks are trying to bring awareness to everything one can experience in birding.

Fall migration brings the birds that have spent the summer in the northern part of the United States back to the south to stay for the winter.

Alabama’s fall migration brings tons of warblers, Swainson’s thrush, raptors, browd-winged hawks, cooper’s hawks, and peregrine falcons.

Frank Jackson State Park is hosting Birding with the Scarecrows this Sat., Oct. 28, at 8 a.m. Alabama State Parks are hoping to bring awareness to the natural beauty in bird watching.

Joanne Ninesling, project manager of the Wiregrass Birding Trail, organized this event for avid bird watchers, as well as to educate children on the migration habits of many species of birds.

“We want to instill excitement in what natural Alabama has to offer to children and adults alike,” Ninesling said, “We also want to encourage birding events in the area.”

The event coincides with Lake Frank Jackson’s annual Scarecrows in the Park event, which features dozens of scarecrows lining the park’s nature trails.

In the Wiregrass’s 10 counties, there are 20 official birding sites.

Covington County hosts four of these sites; the Conecuh National Forest, the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center, Frank Jackson State Park, and the Florala City Wetland Park.

Saturday’s event starts with a Bird Walk at 8 a.m., looking for birds passing through as they migrate, as well as local species.

The next activity is making a homemade birdseed ornaments that can be taken home, and hung from a tree.

The last event is to teach children how many issues birds run into when they are migrating through a game called “Migration Game.”

The game includes dice and spaces to advance, as well as obstacles that birds would commonly run across, such as mid-flight collisions, predators, and exhaustion.

“We hope for a good number of people to attend,” Ninesling said.

Saturday is also Opp’s annual Oppfest, which opens with the Rotary Club’s 5K event.

For more information, contact Tasha Simon, tasha.simon@dcor.alabama.gov, or Joanne Ninesling at wiregrassbirdingtrail@gmail.com.