ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — As far as birds go, raptors have always been a hobby of Phillip West, Coastal Resources director for the city of Orange Beach.

He used to work for a nonprofit organization that was a research group with raptors, doing most of his research in the Northern Rockies. West knows how to look at a map and recognize migration patterns of hawks, eagles and falcons.

Now, he wants to take what he has learned about these high-flying predators and share it with the rest of us.

Beginning in the fall, West plans to lead some tours at the Fort Morgan peninsula to do some raptor watching.

Although a specific date has not been set for the tours, West hopes to take a couple of weekends during the fall and possibly some weekdays to offer a chance to really get up close and personal with these large birds. Often times the success of the sightings depends on the weather.

“A lot of times a cold front will push down a few more birds,” West said. “Certainly if there were a day that we had planned to go but we were just going to have thunderstorms and rain all day, that is certainly not good conditions for watching hawks. But once those fronts pass and you have a good north wind, you will often get good movement from the birds.”

According to West, a clear day is best as well so that watchers will be able to identify certain characteristics.

The idea behind doing these tours is two fold; both to educate anyone interested about the raptors in our area, as well as to support the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail.

“There will be no fee involved with these tours, but we will ask attendees to make a donation to the Backcountry Trail foundation,” West said. “We have some projects with the trail coming up, so we think this might help in our fundraising effort.”

Lunch and learn opportunities have been available as part of the coastal lecture series, but West says this will take that to the next level.

“Probably what we will do is an evening lecture before the tour at one of our local restaurants, teaching how to identify raptors in flight including behavioral characteristics and flight characteristics. We have a good fall flight in this area but not a lot of attention is given towards raptors,” West said.

West said it is not uncommon to see a large concentration of these birds along the Gulf Coast as they migrate south in the fall. What he says is so interesting, and what a lot of people don’t consider, is that when watching these raptors you are watching a predator in action.

In addition, West says that raptors are good environmental barometers and they need to be studied. There may be something in the environment when there are significant fluctuations in their migrating patterns, that we need to be alarmed about.

“I guess mostly I just want to bring some awareness to folks in the area about these birds, and see if anyone has the same interest as me,” West said.