2020 Jan 6, Outing to Decatur, Alabama Birds of Prey, Waterfowl

Owl 

Today, Hubby and I rode to Decatur, where we ate breakfast at IHOP and then went to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge, where we saw Whooping and Sandhill Cranes. 

We saw a small group of schoolchildren and several adults with cameras. We watched a 12-minute movie about the Refuge and walked among the Cypress Trees.

Sandhill Cranes

On the Atkeson Cypress Boardwalk, we saw these gorgeous Cypresses submerged deep in the swamp. 

 We stopped at Ingalls Harbor and Rhodes Ferry Park.

Tern Perched on a pole at Ingalls Harbor. 

We ate lunch at Jack's, hamburgers and fried pies.
 We stopped at Wheeler Dam, where we saw hundreds of Terns diving for fish. We also saw hundreds of Terns perched along the entrance to the locks and hundreds of Cormorants perched below the dam. It was a beautiful day for an outing.

At Rhodes Ferry Park, we saw the train lift bridge that once bridged Lauderdale to Colbert County, Alabama. 

At Wheeler Dam, we saw Terns diving into the Swift Tennessee River. 

The Tuscumbia, Courtland, and Decatur Railroad was the only railway line in the country used to transport the Cherokee people during forced removal. 

Linking Decatur to the Cherokee Indian Removal during the Trail of Tears. 
On this river in front of you, 2,300 Cherokee people arrived in waves, forced from their Tennessee Valley homeland from 1837 to 1838. The steamer Knoxville towed flatboats loaded with Cherokee families. Heavy rains soaked their clothes. The cold wind whipped off the water. They survived on cornmeal and flour fried in bacon grease. Once docked here at Decatur Landing, the Cherokee boarded cramped train cars. Their journey west continued along the rails.