Grand Isle - Port Commission/Kayak Launch/Wildlife and Fisheries

This quiet bayside site offers good views of Caminada Bay and several rock jetties where seabirds and shorebirds perch, preen, and loaf. In winter, numerous waterfowl species utilize the bay for roosting and resting after foraging on the gulf side of the island. This is also true for shorebirds and seabirds on a year-round basis.

Equipped with a spotting scope/tripod, birders commonly observe Lesser Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, and Brown and American White Pelicans. Common seabirds include Laughing, Ring-billed, and Herring Gulls, and Forster's, Least, Royal, and Sandwich Terns.

Another interesting ecological feature is black mangrove swamp habitat, which lines much of the Grand Isle’s bay side. The swamp holds numerous foraging shorebirds at low tide. During the fall, winter, and spring months, these swamps are foraging and loafing sites for the Short-billed Dowitcher, almost identical in appearance to the more commonly observed Long-billed Dowitcher. Here in the mangrove swamps, listen for the very different soft/mellow ""tu-tu-tu"" vocalization of the Short-billed, versus the sharp ""keek!"" of the Long-billed. Other interesting songbirds use the swamp at various times. During spring and fall migration periods, finches, sparrows, thrushes, orioles, blackbirds, and grosbeaks have all been recorded, along with 17 species of warbler.

Grand Isle Port Commission’s kayak launch is located mid-island on the bay side (north side) off Ludwig Lane. This site was created specifically to allow kayakers a “safe harbor” from which to launch their boats. Also located here are piers from which people fish and set up their spotting scopes to look for seabirds.

There are no amenities here besides parking. Not handicapped-accessible.