Visitors to the TN Sandhill Crane Festival in Meigs County at Birchwood January
14-15 saw a number of rare, uncommon, and spectacular sights. On Sunday,
January 15, many visitors to the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge viewing area saw a
rare whooping crane. Bald eagles were noted at both the HWR viewing area and
the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park overlook. On Saturday at CRMP, two adult and
four juvenile Bald Eagles were in view for an extended time. Sunday afternoon,
with the help of three visitors to the CRMP, adult Bald Eagles were observed on
two different nests. Also on Sunday afternoon an estimated 200-300 American
White Pelicans flew into the Tennessee River, landed on sandbars, and were
seen from the CRMP! I was at the CRMP both days, but I was told that Mallards,
Canvasbacks, Ring-necked Ducks, and Gadwalls were present at HWR. There may
have been other ducks there, as well. Mallards, Green-winged Teal, and Black
Ducks were observed from the CRMP. Visitors to the CRMP could count more than
30 Great Blue Herons fishing in the TN and Hiwassee rivers and resting in trees
in the rookery on Hiwassee Island. A few Great Egrets were sighted from the
CRMP during occasional visits to the area.
TWRA Yuchi Refuge Manager Bernie Swiney was joined by Roi and Debbie Shannon in
helping visitors to see and identify birds at HWR, and Jimmy Wilkerson worked
with me at CRMP to assist the large number of visitors there. Cleveland State
Community College Wildlife Society students kept a list of species seen at the
two viewing sites and texted the lists to the festival headquarters at the
Birchwood Community Center. Please accept my apologies if I left out any
helpers! A special big thank you goes to the festival coordinator, TWRA's Mimi
Barnes!!! She, in turn, was helped by numerous others to make the festival a
huge success.
Charles Murray
Birchwood, TN
