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.

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 be hosting approximately 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 scope which they will share with participants.

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.

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.

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 26, 2023.  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.

This outing is limited to 5 motor vehicles.  Dwight Cooley, the retired Refuge Manager and our outing leader, has very kindly reserved a 10-person refuge van to be one of those vehicles.  Therefore, we are currently allowing a total of 25 Southeastern Outings people in order to comply with Refuge regulations.  We hope the limitation will not prove to be a problem.

If you want to come on this outing and you have a vehicle which can comfortably hold more than four people and you are willing to use your vehicle to transport participants into the Refuge with us, please advise Dan Frederick immediately.  Your assistance in this instance will permit us to accommodate more people on our trip than the 25 maximum number of SEO people currently imposed.

Since the Refuge’s limitation is five vehicles, you must be willing to ride in a full car or vanload of people in order to be eligible to come on this trip.  If you are unwilling to carpool with other people during this outing, please do not register to participate in this event.

People who want to register to participate after the limit is reached will be placed on a waiting list.

At a later date leader will advise meeting time and place only to those who have signed up for this trip. 

We look forward to seeing many of you on January 28.

Info: Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or southeasternoutings@gmail.com

DESCRIPTION OF SOUTHEASTERN OUTINGS
Do you wish you had friends who share your active lifestyle and enjoyment of outdoor activities? Then become active with Southeastern Outings (SEO), a nonprofit organization committed and created to serve people who enjoy being active in the outdoors. The organization plans, organizes and leads outings such as dayhikes, easy kayak and canoe trips, stream and waterfall walks, bicycle rides, lake events and other fun activities to beautiful sites in our natural environment. From time to time we also sponsor potluck suppers and other socials. All events and activities of the group are open to the public. Participating in SEO activities is a splendid, simple way to make congenial new friends who enjoy the outdoors.
NO DOGS OR SMOKING ALLOWED, PLEASE, ON ANY SOUTHEASTERN OUTINGS EVENTS.
The organization currently has about 250 members. We scheduled seventy-nine events during calendar year 2020 for an average of 7 fun events per month. We enjoy the outdoors in all seasons throughout the year.
SEO does not charge for participation in any of its outings. You do not have to be a member to participate in one or two SEO activities. Dues are only $10. Please contact Dan Frederick, President, 205-631-4680, or seoutings@bellsouth.net for more information and to obtain three free monthly newsletters with membership application and a complete description of all our outdoor events.
Thank you.