One adventure I have always enjoyed since we moved to the Eastern Shore is observing the many kinds of birds in this area, migrating here during the winter months. According to the resource book “Our Water, Our Future” by Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, the Mobile Bay Estuary supports up to 355 bird species.

Our fair-feather migrants who visit us during these winter months are supported by a variety of beautiful marine environments. As you walk along the bay as well as drive across the bay you can see open water, mudflats, sandy and rocky beaches, islands out in the bay, marshes and different kinds of habitats that support a wide variety of birds that have different needs.

As you drive across the bay, have your child observe, describe, and tell you the different shapes of land. Then you and your child can make plans to take a field trip and observe our feathered neighbors a little closer.

The Great Backyard Bird Count starts Friday. Just click to birdsource.org/gbbc. All of us are invited to participate and it only takes 15 minutes each day from Feb. 18-21.

This weekend provides a great time to enjoy bird watching! When you go into this site, so much information is offered to the young child to interact with this upcoming bird-counting event. Children can learn more about the birds they see. They get to take a bird quiz, learn words about birds, color pictures of birds, and learn a lot of facts about birds.

It will be a wonderful free, fun, and easy excursion for you and your child. Even those little ones still in a high chair can be moved close to a window to see the different kinds of birds flying back and forth. Toddlers and infants observe closely their world around them and learn so much about counting and color.

Making bird-feeders out of pine cones — spooning in inexpensive peanut butter, sprinkling it with bird seed, and hanging the bird feeder in a tree low enough for your little one to observe — provides hours of looking and identifying different species of birds.

Also: Throwing out bread crumbs in the yard provides a feast for our fair-feathered friends.

Beth Pinyerd lives in Daphne and serves as director of younger children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort.

Her column appears regularly in The Bulletin.