Cranes
Every year, sandhill cranes and whooping cranes come to visit Northern Alabama, and they usually start arriving in November. At last count, there were over 11,000 sandhill cranes (only a fraction of which are pictured above), and 11 whooping cranes, at Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. On average, 14,000 sandhill cranes and 14 whooping cranes are expected.
This is a big deal. The whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America and is endangered. They and the sandhill crane are the only cranes native to North America.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, “…the only self-sustaining and wild population of Whooping Cranes nests at and near Wood Buffalo National Park near the provincial border of Northwest Territories and Alberta, Canada. Birds from this population migrate through the Great Plains of North America and winter along the Gulf Coast of Texas at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding lands.”
These birds generally arrive at Wheeler together and stay a few months. There is a wonderful celebration of their visit in January each year, called the Festival of the Cranes. There are hikes, classes, and special events for all ages.
But I love to visit the refuge in person, often, to see and especially hear the birds. When they get going, they make such a racket! It is fun to go to the observation buildings and see the cranes up close from blinds, so that I and other humans don’t scare them away. I have noticed that they tend to stay on the south side of the highway in the mornings, and often move as a group to the north side in the afternoons. I don’t know why.
On rare occasion, they will travel over my house, which is five miles away from the refuge. I have been very surprised by the very loud call of a crane as it flies. In the coming weeks, more cranes will join the group, and the field you see in the photo above will be completely packed with birds. Their sounds will be so loud it will make me laugh. Which is a great feeling.