By Chelsea Vance | The Selma Times-Journal

The bird walk at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park will return on Feb. 6.

The walk will start at 8 a.m. and is expected to end at 10 a.m. Those who attend can expect to see a variety of birds in their natural habitat.

Assistant Site Director Jonathan Matthews advises attendants to dress warm and bring binoculars with them. Visitors should meet at the visitor center parking lot of the park.

Matthews said the hobby of birdwatching is a great way to appreciate nature.

“It was a chance to bring in a new audience and teach them something new that they can go out and enjoy,” Matthews said. “Maybe it will inspire people to visit Old Cahawba who might not have come otherwise.”

There were more than 30 birds seen on last year’s walk, but Matthews is hopeful to see more this time around.

Frank Ferrell, an experienced bird watcher, will serve as the tour guide for the bird walk for the second straight year.

“It’s important that we try to preserve the habitat of the birds. It’s disappearing more and more, and we need to try to preserve what we already have and not lose any more habitats,” Ferrell said.

Ferrell said the group can expect to see bared owls, brown thrashers, hermit thrush, Carolina wrens, white-throated sparrows, chipping sparrows, chickadees, Savannah sparrows, blue jays and red belly woodpeckers . Ferrell said that if the group was lucky, they would find a yellow belly sapsucker.

Matthews is hoping more people will participate this year.

“We’ve got a multitude of resources here that really makes Old Cahawba interesting. Those resources are natural, the rivers, trees, plants and animals,” Matthews said. “Bird watching is a great hobby that anyone can do from their own backyard to parks all over.”

The activity fee for the bird walk is $8 per person. The address is 9518 Cahaba Road in Orrville. For more information, call (334) 872-8058 or visit the website at www.cahawba.com or Old Cahawba on Facebook.