PROGRAM / EVENT NAME: Saturday Field Trip, Wheeler NWR

Free!

Event Capacity: 30

Event/ Program Description: Join us as we visit Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, winter-time home to thousands of geese, ducks and cranes! Our day will begin at the Refuge Visitor Center, where we will likely encounter hundreds of ducks and geese, thousands of Sandhill Cranes, and if we are lucky, an endangered Whooping Crane or two. Following a morning of viewing (and listening!) to all these birds, we'll have a picnic lunch (bring your own) at the pavilion on the grounds of the visitor center. We'll then travel north across the Tennessee River, to Arrowhead Landing on Limestone Bay. Here, we'll see another group of birds that numbers into the thousands: Snow Geese! The keen-eyed among us may find a rare Ross's Goose. We'll plan to finish our tour of the refuge by visiting the still waters sliding beneath the Beaverdam Creek Boardwalk.

LOCATION DETAILS / In-person or Online: Admission to the refuge is free, and please remember to bring your own lunch. Also remember to wear appropriate clothing - temperatures near the water can feel much colder, so be sure to bring an extra layer. Walking will be minimal, except for when we visit the boardwalk at the end of the day. All sites are fully accessible, but bathroom facilities once we leave the visitor center are limited. However, we will take a restroom break as needed in the afternoon.

TRAVEL INFORMATION: We will meet at the Hardee's in Priceville (which is near Decatur) at 8:30 a.m. The address is 3241 Point Mallard Parkway SE, Priceville, AL (I-65 Exit #334)

FIELD TRIP LEADER: Your field trip leader will be Matt Hunter // (205) 460.9546  & co leader, Jonah Cohen // (860) 202.9259.

(Please contact your field trip leader the day of the event for questions and concerns.)

Accessibility: We'll be traveling/walking on level, paved surfaces or firm-packed dirt/gravel roads.

Picture Credit & Owner: Greg Harber