Birmingham to Mobile and Dauphin Island. Blue jays courting, doves and cardinals calling at early morning in the campsite. The drive south was relatively uneventful, the road straight and lined with cut-over scrub pine forest. Buzzards common, as they were yesterday. Cress noticed near Montgomery, had been in bloom for some time. Common maples in bloom along the route, with a few buds greening as we moved further south. Since most of the land was in pines, the effect of the flowering trees was relatively light. One redbud, full blush, seen about 145 miles north of Mobile. Pelicans and egrets noticed as we reached  the wetlands.  Into Mobile: azaleas seen in full bloom, and one planting of multicolored tulips. Here at Dauphin Island, 845 miles from Yellow Springs, the air is in the cool 50s by the beach, the wind steady and chilly.