Oak Mountain State Park & Alabama Wildlife Center, Pelham, AL

It was a beautiful day to get some more traveling in, so we decided to head over to Pelham, Alabama. 🌞 They have a really nice state park that’s a bit south of Birmingham. There’s a golf course, miles of hiking trails, campground, and lakes where you can rent kayaks, canoes, and paddleboats. It also has a swimming area for people to enjoy. 🛶

While driving in the park we found the Alabama Wildlife Center. All of us were super excited to go visit the animals and it was the best decision we could have made! 😄

As we made our way to the lobby, there was a collection of stuffed animals to buy. 🧸 They were seriously adorable, so Juliana made sure we would stop there on the way out. (Spoiler alert, we did. 😉) There was an education center, a small reptile section with turtles and snakes, and a nice aquarium. 🐢🐍🐟

We took the self-guided tour outside and just happened to walk next to some volunteers that were getting ready to feed the raptors. I asked if it was open for people to watch and she said we could join her and watch while she and another volunteer fed them. We were able to stay in the viewing area to watch from a safe distance. It was a really cool experience! The hawks and owls seemed to enjoy their lunch. 🦉

As we finished with their feeding, the falconer was getting ready to exercise the birds. 🦅 We were welcomed to stay and watch while Giang (the falconer) encouraged the birds to exercise their wings. The first bird he brought out was a beautiful leucistic red tailed hawk named Betty White. This red tailed hawk was pure white, but was not a true albino. An albino would also have red eyes, which this hawk did not have. She was truly amazing and reminded us of an angel in flight. 🥰 Betty originally had a fractured wing, which has since healed, but she also had a fungal infection in her lungs. Unfortunately she has significant lung scarring and is unable to fly even short distances without shortness of breath, so she will be a permanent resident of the Wildlife Center. You can see a video of Betty flying here:

Betty the Leucistic Red Tailed Hawk Exercises Her Wings

Victoria was incredibly informative and graciously explained why the birds were in captivity. All of the animals in the wildlife center are being rehabilitated due to an injury that prevents them from being able to return to life in the wild. 😢 They are not there just for people to view, as there are some that cannot be released due to the extent of their injuries. However, from what we could see, they are receiving excellent care and love from the volunteers and employees. 🤗 I also wanted to mention that you can sponsor one of these beautiful birds. As the care for them can be quite pricey, a donation is always appreciated. If you’d like to learn more about or donate to the AWC, you can find their website here, Instagram here, and their Facebook page here.

The second beautiful red tailed hawk we were able to see was Goldie. Goldie was hit by a car and it left her blind in her right eye. She was so sweet and knew how to coerce Giang into giving her a treat! She was a bit more laid back than Betty, but she did some amazing wingwork and had us all amused. 😅 Here is a video of Goldie in flight:

Goldie the Red Tailed Hawk Practices Flying

Next on the list of amazing animals was Atlas who is a Eurasian Eagle Owl that was purchased by someone through the exotic pet trade. 🦉 He was confiscated and brought to the AWC. Since he was imprinted by humans when he was a baby, he can’t survive on his own. He was quite a character and was very charming and talkative. He was such a hoot! (Pun intended! 😁) You can see a few videos featuring Atlas here:

Atlas the Eurasian Eagle Owl

More About Atlas the Eurasian Eagle Owl

The last bird we were fortunate to see being flown was Shelby the Bald Eagle. 🦅 Shelby was also hit by a car and is blind in her left eye. Shelby was quite the diva! She is still currently being worked with and hasn’t quite mastered being well behaved. Once Giang convinced her to accept the tether, she was magnificient. Watching a Bald Eagle in flight is an incredible experience. 🤩

We then decided to take the Treetop Trail (which we renamed Tree Trapp Trail 😉) and it was so neat. The trail itself went up and down some pretty good sized hills and valleys. It wasn’t overly long, just about .4 miles each way. We found a display that shows the actual size of an eagle’s nest. 🙃

Our favorite part of the hike was the boardwalk that led to the owls, buzzards, and hawks. The enclosures let the birds feel like they were free, but kept them protected and fed. 🌳

After our hike, we soaked our feet in the lake at the beach and had a fun picnic lunch and explored the area a bit more. After a thoroughly amazing day, we decided to head back and relax for the night and enjoy more time well spent with family. 😊

We hope you are enjoying our travels! We’d love to welcome you to subscribe to our email list, Facebook, & YouTube channel. You can also share it with your friends, if you’d like. We added some videos on our YouTube channel to go along with the post: https://www.youtube.com/@TravelingwiththeTrapps

Thanks so much and stay tuned for more Traveling with the Trapps! 😀

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