Celebrating the Festival of the Cranes like Teddy!

This year my friend Annie Jansen and I chose to celebrate the Festival of the Cranes like Teddy Roosevelt! This spectacular event took place January 12-14, in Decatur, Alabama. The festival showcases the migration of 14,000 Sandhill Cranes and endangered Whooping Cranes. These cranes come to Decatur, and the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (WNWR).

You may be asking, why celebrate the event like our 26th President Theodore Roosevelt? It is because he was a champion of conservation and the outdoors. He preached physical education for strength, and to stimulate the mind! What is more stimulating than a hike outdoors birding?

Before arriving, Annie and I had a series of outdoor opportunities already planned. Hitting the WNWR to see the cranes was the top priority.

Many thanks to the Decatur Morgan County Tourism for hosting me for this event!

Teddy Roosevelt’s words!

Saturday afternoon we attended the Teddy Roosevelt Show. Joe Wiegand is Teddy Roosevelt. His show was at the Princess Theatre. Back in 2021, my husband Keith and I toured this beautiful venue. We received a tour from Mary McDonald who has been with the Princess Theatre for the Performing Arts since 1987. She told us that the structure began life as a livery stable back in 1887! The Princess became a theatre in 1919. It was transformed into a silent film and vaudeville playhouse. “In 1943, the renovation was to Art Deco.”

While Teddy performed at the Princess, we enjoyed watching with a large crowd and learning about President Roosevelt’s life, family, and the connection to Joe Wheeler. Wheeler is who the WNWR is named after. Joe Wheeler was a Confederate General during the Civil War. From Augusta, Georgia, he also served in the Spanish American War, and the Philippine American War. On July 7, 1938, it was Teddy Roosevelt’s relative, President Franklin D. Roosevelt that established the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. 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!

Roosevelt’s connection to conservation is clear. On Wiegand’s website about Teddy Roosevelt, Joe Wiegand shares, “Our first conservation president, Theodore Roosevelt preserved two hundred and thirty million acres of parks, forests, national monuments, wildlife refuges, and game preserves.

Without his efforts, we would not have a wildlife refuge to see these amazing birds!

Who is Joe Wiegand? His story is impressive, after a career as a political consultant, he turned to being a Teddy impersonator. He has presented in all 50 states and at the White House. He also has modeled for Teddy Roosevelt statues. “…Over twenty years, Joe’s Theodore Roosevelt has been seen by audiences in all fifty states and internationally, from the White House to Yosemite National Park.” 

We were duly impressed!

Early morning bird walk!

Our first outdoor activity was at eight on Saturday morning with Christopher Joe. We met him and the other hikers at the recently renovated Visitor’s Center. This just reopened before the festival.

At the Visitor’s Center, we met a fun volunteer, Robert Bemis. He has been living the RV life for the last 12 years. He said that volunteering is an interesting way to have fun and earn his keep at the same time. “I just stumbled on this last year,” Robert said about the festival. A former employee of Caterpillar in Peoria, Illinois, the volunteer has enjoyed the RV life and learning about amazing events like the Festival of the Crane.

A third-generation farmer, in the black belt ag section of Alabama, Christopher Joe leads birdwatching walks at the family farm. The presenter bio on the WNWR website about Christopher Joe said, “He started Connecting with Birds and Nature Tours, LLC on October 31, 2018, to diversify the Joe family’s Black Angus cattle farm. The property has been in the family since the mid-1800s. It is located on 200 acres in Newbern, Alabama. The property consists of pasture, bottomland hardwood, and a creek. This diverse habitat encourages birds and wildlife of multiple species to visit and even call the Joe Farm home.”

He offers his Connecting with Birds and Nature Tours at the Joe Family Farm.

Christopher Joe shared that in the black belt ag section of Alabama, “We have a history of cotton. We knew how it grew and that is was King, we knew it well but also diversity in habitat.”

Diverse land brings diverse birds. Joe touched on an event held on his farm, and that was close to his heart, the Alabama Black Belt Festival. “Dad cuts the hay and the kites (a type of bird) follows. I am excited to spread the joy of birding and getting people together.”

There was a group of around 25 or so birding enthusiasts that headed out on the trail. Annie and I bundled up because it was a bit chilly outside.

We learned tips when using binoculars. Stop, see the bird, then bring the binoculars up to the eye rather than looking down. If you look down, Christopher Joe said, that is when you lose sight of the bird, flower etc. If you just sit still, often birds will start moving and you will see more birds.

Our walk took us along a beautiful swamp area.

The Sandhill Cranes

It was really after our walk, along the side of the water that we saw the Sandhill Cranes up close.

This time of year, the Sandhill Cranes migrate from northern Canada and the Great Lakes. They are moving through Indiana, eastern Kentucky and Tennessee and spend their winter in Georgia and Florida. The first sighting of the cranes in Alabama was in 1928, but it wasn’t until the 1990’s that they started arriving in Alabama on a regular basis.

Since three were spotted in 1995, the numbers have doubled and tripled until today you can see 10,000 cranes in the nearby fields. Up to 15-20,000 are at the WNWR most years! The sound and sights of the cranes is one I will always remember. The only thing that would have made it better would’ve been seeing a Whooping Crane! These rare birds travel from Wisconsin to the Gulf Coast and Florida. In 2004, they were sighted on the WNRN. According to an article in the Festival of the Cranes magazine put out by The Decatur Daily “Whooping Cranes and members of their species had not been seen in Alabama since 1899.”

Using an ultralight system to bring the Whooping Cranes to the area, they have been attempting to reestablish the population. The ultralight idea wasn’t very successful, so they brought cranes by truck, and they mingled with the Sandhill Cranes. Several have since returned. We heard from a group we were talking to that they had just spied two of these beauties before we arrived.

During our visit we were at the refuge twice on Saturday, once for our hike, and again for a photography session. After our session, we stopped in the Wildlife Observation Building. Here we saw several cranes, geese and other birds through the amazing, windowed building. While there I ran into former Refuge Manager Dwight Cooley. Last year Annie and I took a bird hike with him. This year they limited the number of participants, and you could see, hear and learn better.

Through the festival, we attended several fun events and enjoyed especially the crane art throughout the town. Keep the Festival of the Cranes on your radar, it is a fascinating event, especially when you celebrate like Teddy Roosevelt.