Festival of the Cranes Decatur, Alabama
What do you do when you learn there is a Festival and it’s all about birds, big birds like the sandhill crane? When you got the chance to cover the Festival of the Cranes like I did, you headed south to Decatur, Alabama! Thank you to the Decatur Morgan County Tourism for hosting me for this event!
The Festival and Location
January 13-16, of 2023 were the dates of the event. Several activities took place at downtown Decatur locations with the bulk of the Festival of the Cranes held at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (WNWR). The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1938. It is a wintering area for ducks, geese, and other migratory birds. Today, the refuge is home to over 550 birds and is comprised of 35,000 acres. Besides birds, there are over 115 species of fish, 74 species of amphibians, 47 types of mammals and 295 of birds plus mussels and snails!
While all of the above are exciting, I came to see the amazing sandhill cranes! These wonderful birds have captivated my imagination since I spied them in Wisconsin several years ago. I learned they are named after the Sandhills near the Platte River in Nebraska, because many travel during spring migration According to a National Park Service article, “Sandhill cranes are large birds, standing 1.0 to 1.2 m (3.2 to 3.9 ft) tall, with a wingspan of 1.8 to 2.0 m (5.9 to 6.5 ft).”
The festival includes an amazing array of activities. There are presentations, art exhibits, concerts, children’s activities, and more over the 3-day event.
I traveled with my friend Annie Jansen to the festival, and we arrived Friday evening.
Check in at the Doubletree
With our Friday night arrival, Annie and I tucked ourselves into the charming Doubletree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront hotel. Rather than venture back out into the evening chill, we stayed in and dined in the hotel restaurant, the Twist Grill and Bar. Then knowing we had an early morning, we just chilled in our comfy room enjoying the evening.
The Crane sightings!
Saturday morning, Annie and I ate breakfast, then headed to the WNWR. As soon as we arrived, we could hear the birds and soon saw them in the air.
We met with former Refuge Manager Dwight Cooley. He took the group on a bird walk hoping to see sandhill cranes and the endangered whooping cranes. Throughout our trip we saw several sandhill cranes, egrets, ducks and geese, but we were never lucky enough to spy a whooping crane.
This was the 11th year for the walk. Before the walk, Annie and I took a few minutes and checked out the beautiful cypress swamp.
There were several visitors at that came for the walk, our first Festival of the Cranes activity. Dwight Cooley explained, “At the WNWR, they work with farmers, and they take out 80% of the corn, and leave 20%. We pick areas where to leave the corn. They harvest all the soybeans.”
Cooley added according to the latest census a few days before, they estimated there were up to 18,000 sandhill cranes at the refuge. “Prior to 1992 there were records of one to two birds. There was a geometric increase. The population of the wildlife estimate of the sandhill cranes is around 500,000.”
While the Visitor’s Center was closed for renovations, there was a building to view birds through blinds, and a heated observation building. In the building there were telescopes set up and David Frings set his up and was assisting. He said about the cranes, “I’d say the sandhill is he most stable of the cranes.”
Before heading to the fishing pier, I spied a painter, Timothy Michael Joe getting ready to capture this miraculous event on his canvas.
The Fishing Pier
We chose to also stop at the fishing pier across from the refuge and this is where we actually got our best view of the birds! There were two other observers when we were there, one had lived in Illinois and moved to Alabama!
After our view from the pier, we also went for a short hike along the boardwalk and enjoyed the Refuge woods!
Hartselle, lunch and other Festival of the Cranes connections
Annie and I headed to Hartselle, a small nearby town for lunch at the wonderful diner Eatin in the Attic and shopping. At one fun stop we saw a crane festival color book.
In the afternoon we headed for the Cook Museum of Natural Science. Like little kids, we joined in the craft time creating crane ornaments. Seeing a sandhill crane that passed and had been taxidermized along with a juvenile Whooping Crane allowed us to see the birds up close and personal. They also had a film of the sandhill crane at the museum along with a video of the mating graceful dance adding to the Crane Festival fun.
Saturday night we dined at the wonderful Brick Deli and Tavern. Sunday, we headed home with visions of sandhill cranes dancing in our heads.
If you get a chance to visit this marvelous festival, don’t hesitate. Decatur and Morgan County is full of culture, history, art, agriculture and an array of amazing things to bring you to this area! Mark your calendars and plan a trip soon!
