Description: East Beach, which includes Gould’s Inlet, is a residential area of St. Simons Island. The area includes some county-owned lands.

Types of Birds: Birds of prey, shorebirds, songbirds, wading birds, waterfowl

Best Birding Seasons: Birds of prey (all), shorebirds (all), wading birds (all), waterfowl (winter)

Specialties: American oystercatcher, black skimmer, painted bunting, bald eagle, least tern, northern gannet

Tips: The best time to see birds in this area is around high tide, especially in the afternoon. The best place to park is in the Coast Guard parking area. Look for painted buntings in spring and summer in the upland habitats. Look for laughing gulls, black skimmers, and royal and caspian terns on the beach. In winter, look for common and red-throated loons, scoters, scaup, and other waterbirds in the ocean. Look for northern gannets out over the ocean in winter. Look for warblers during spring and fall migration.

Fee: None.

Hours: No set hours.

There’s something for everyone to explore on St. Simons Island — pristine, natural beaches and marshlands, abundant wildlife, historic sites and monuments, parks and outdoor recreation, world-class accommodations, fishing, watersports, boutique shopping, and delectable dining. Yet you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time to your own private beach town getaway, a hidden gem of a casual coastal paradise that has remained untouched by overzealous development and commercial activity. Surrounded on all sides by historic Southern Oaks draped in Spanish Moss that have survived for hundreds of years, expansive marshlands and waterways, sandbars, and the Atlantic ocean in the background, St. Simons Island will capture your heart and imagination like nowhere else on Earth.