(19 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Center, Alabama – 13 January 2025
1. Wide of people watching sandhill cranes at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Center
2. Mid of cranes vocalizing and dancing with each other
3. SOUNDBITE (English) David Young, park ranger, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Center:
"So between November and mid-February, we see thousands of sandhill cranes, those gray birds that are about four feet tall and a dozen to 20 of the endangered whooping cranes, their white cousins that stand about five feet tall."
4. Mid of a sandhill crane fluffing feathers
5. Mid of sandhill cranes searching for food
6. SOUNDBITE (English) David Young, park ranger, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Center:
"So here in the Tennessee Valley, we have three things that these cranes need. The wide open fields here around our visitor center. The leftover crop and the the natural foods that they that they like to forage on in those fields. And then open mudflats and shallow water on the Tennessee River and its tributaries."
7. Wide of a sandhill crane landing
8. Tight of David Young showing visitor Rob Broeren instructions on a map
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rob Broeren, Huntsville, Alabama:
"Well, I mean, clearly this is kind of the crane capital of the US at least. So pretty spectacular cranes, great sunlight today. Just a great morning. It’s a Monday. So pretty quiet out here. So good time to get some wildlife photos."
10. Wide of visitor taking photos inside a photo blind
11. Tight of a visitor looking through binoculars at the cranes
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Diana Marbury-Sharp, Birmingham, Alabama:
"It’s pretty extraordinary. I’ve seen them in other parts of the country where there were just a few. And they’re, they don’t, they’re not loud. They’re not vocal like they are here. There’s so many here that it’s an unusual experience."
13. Mid of visitors viewing cranes at observation building
14. SOUNDBITE (English) David Young, park ranger, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Center:
"They vocalize and you’ll even see different, quote unquote dance moves sometimes. It all means something a little bit different, sometimes friendly, maybe not so much at times as well."
15. Wide of tens of thousands of sandhill cranes
16. SOUNDBITE (English) David Young, park ranger, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Center:
"Yeah. So the last several years we were able to renovate our visitor center to add some additional photo blinds. And we’ve had our observation building here for many years and a lot of people have known about that for a long time. But a great heated and cooled place with windows, about a five minute walk from a parking lot to come and see these cranes, but also the geese and the ducks. And once in a while, an endangered whooping crane as well."
17. Wide of park ranger David Young speaking to visitors inside of observation center
18. Mid of two children pressed against the glass in observation center
STORYLINE:
In flooded agricultural fields near the Tennessee River, tens of thousands of sandhill cranes stand tall among broken corn stalks and shallow water searching for corn, berries, seeds and insects.
The sound and sight of so many cranes clustered together creates a chorus of trills, trumpets and honks throughout the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Center in northern Alabama during the winter.
“It’s a birder’s paradise,” noted park ranger David Young.
Diana Maybury-Sharp, from Birmingham, regularly comes to Wheeler with friends to hike and look at birds.
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