[Jan 1 - Jan 20 outings have been omitted here]
JANUARY 25, 2025, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Waterfowl Viewing Trip
Where: Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (WNWR), Decatur, AL
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Details Experience the thrilling sight of thousands of sandhill cranes, wild geese and ducks plus herons and other birds. The Refuge has the largest concentration of wintering cranes, geese and ducks in the entire state of Alabama! You don’t need to be a bird watcher to enjoy this outing! Experienced birders leading the trip will share their knowledge with all.
This 35,000-acre refuge attracts thousands of wintering waterfowl each year. WNWR is comprised of diverse habitat types including bottomland hardwoods, wetlands, pine uplands, shoreline or riparian woodlands, agricultural fields, and backwater embayments. These habitats provide excellent feeding, resting, and roosting sites for wintering waterfowl, white pelicans, sandhill cranes and a few endangered whooping cranes as well as nesting sites for migratory songbirds and many species of resident wildlife.
Note-To view photos of what we will see on this trip, please click on this link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SvhqhVBWlcJX5qBL2
Please be sure to click on the link and view the photographs.
We are highly privileged to have as our guide Dwight Cooley, the retired Refuge Manager. Dwight will take us on refuge roads behind locked gates as we drive to various bays and sloughs where you can easily see hundreds of ducks and geese in large numbers. We’ll also see many other types of birds including, hopefully, bald eagles. We’ll even see a huge flock of sandhill cranes which winter at the refuge each year. This winter the Refuge expects to host in excess of 22,000 sandhill cranes and about 20 endangered whooping cranes. The gated roads are closed to the public but will be open to our group.
Please bring binoculars, a birding field guide and a spotting telescope with you if you have them. The leader and Dan Frederick will each bring a spotting telescope which they will share with participants. Also, please bring your picnic lunch and drink with you.
This outing is rated easy as there is very little walking involved, and we won’t be climbing any hills or walking through thick brush. Please dress for the weather. The wind at the refuge can be biting, blowing across open water on cold days.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 10 and over who can remain quiet for extended periods of time (so as to not disturb the birds and bird watchers) are welcome.
Possible optional dinner after the birding trip depending on what time we finish bird watching.
Reservations Required: If you wish to participate in this outing, you are required to call Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email your reservation to southeasternoutings@gmail.com by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 23, 2025. When you contact Dan, please be sure you leave your first and last name and either your phone number or email address. If you are bringing guest(s), please be sure to give Dan the first and last names of each of them.
At a later time Dan Frederick will advise meeting time and place only to those who have signed up and been approved for this trip.
We look forward to seeing many of you on January 25, 2025.
Info: Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or southeasternoutings@gmail.com
Southeastern Outings Leisurely Weekday Hike
Where: Red Mountain Park
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Details: Please come with us for a 3-4 mile hike on a walkable portion of this noteworthy place. We will hike from the Red Mountain Park Parking Lot on Lyon Lane to the Grace’s Gap and back.
The walking pace for this hike is rated moderately easy since there are some hills to climb. We’ll stop often to catch our breath and note flowers, trees, birdsongs and the trail and woods around us.
Please bring your picnic lunch and plenty of water. Wear good walking shoes or boots. Dress appropriately for the weather.
Please meet at 9:30 a.m. in the large Red Mountain Park parking lots on the right side of Lyon Lane immediately after you turn right onto Lyon Lane off of the north end of Frankfurt Drive off Lakeshore Parkway. We plan to depart from there at 9:45 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Christine Heckemeyer, 205-979-5730
Southeastern Outings Leisurely Weekday Hike
Where: Beeswax Creek Park, Lay Lake, Wilsonville, Alabama
Details: Beeswax Creek Park, bordered by Beeswax Creek to its north and Lay Lake (Coosa River) to its east, is located in the Columbiana/Wilsonville area in Shelby County, Alabama. Beeswax Creek Park has many amenities including two picnic pavilions, three fishing piers, a 2.8- mile multi-use trail for hiking, two restroom facilities and a huge parking lot. A caretaker provides security for the park. Alabama Power Company, through its "The Preserves" program, has added a boardwalk and a bridge to the trail system, created a pollinator plot with interpretive signs, and Alabama Power has also built two gazebos overlooking Lay Lake.
The walking pace for this hike will be moderately easy. We’ll stop often to catch our breath and note views, trees, birdsongs and the trail and woods around us.
Please meet at 9:30 a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 9:45 a.m.
Admission to the park is free.
Info. and trip Leader: Christine Heckemeyer, 205-979-5730
