Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bird, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bird and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bird
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Bird:
- 34.029819, -86.389150
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Bird
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Blount County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Blount County
- Since Bird is near Etowah County and also Saint Clair County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Etowah County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Bird ...
We found seven communities that share the name Bird.
Within Alabama, the name Bird is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alaska
- Louisiana
- Manitoba
- This Bird lies 1,595 miles [2,566.9 km]<2> to the north of the Bird that is located in Blount County.
- Michigan
- New York
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bird ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Clarence
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Craig
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Fridays Crossing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridays Crossing
- Fridays Crossing is located in Blount County
- Hoods Crossroads
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoods Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Crossroads
- Hoods Crossroads is located in Blount County
- Maudlin ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Moodys Chapel
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moodys Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moodys Chapel
- Moodys Chapel is located in Etowah County
- Murphy Ford
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murphy Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy Ford
- Murphy Ford is located in Blount County
- New Home
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Nix ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Old Snead
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Susan Moore
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
- Walnut Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Etowah County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 692 people
How Far From Bird to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Bird to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Bird once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Bird and extending to:
- Oneonta, which is the Seat of Blount County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 114 miles [183.5 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Bird to Montgomery, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 618 miles [994.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,510 miles [10,476.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,219 miles [11,617.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,096 miles [8,201.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Blount County: www.co.blount.al.us/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Bird could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bird) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bird. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0298, Longitude: -86.3892 In this case, the coordinates for Bird have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Bird, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Bird to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.457 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.105 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.019 degrees. |