If you go
* What: Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival.* When: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14-15.* Where: Birchwood Community Center, 5623 Highway 60 (must park here and ride shuttles to Hiwassee Refuge).* Admission: Free.* Phone: 931-456-3068.* Website: www.tn.gov/twra/article/sandhill-crane-festival.
Brant Miller, Dave Woodward and Don King, from left, are 2nd Nature, a Nashville-based country/bluegrass trio. They’ll perform at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, during the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival. King will perform twice Sunday, Jan. 15.
Lynne Haas, left, and Tom Morgan will perform heritage music in the Birchwood Community Center during the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival.
People gather near the Tennessee River to watch sandhill cranes during last year’s Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival.A drive along Highway 60 between Dayton and Cleveland, Tenn., will produce sightings of sandhill cranes, but this weekend’s Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival offers an opportunity to truly appreciate the massive migration of these big birds.
The entire region will be abuzz with birds and birdwatchers alike. Along with the star of the weekend, many types of waterfowl, bald eagles, golden eagles, white pelicans and even whooping cranes are spotted each year.
Music and programs will take place at Birchwood Community Center both Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14-15, and free buses will run the short distance to the Hiwassee Refuge and Cherokee Removal Memorial Park. Both the memorial and refuge provide birding opportunities and a list of bird species that may be spotted. Tennessee Ornithological Society and TWRA staff will offer expertise and scopes at each location for prime viewing.
Since the early 1990s, the recovering population of eastern sandhill cranes has been stopping at the Hiwassee Refuge on their way to and from their wintering grounds in Georgia and Florida. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has been managing this refuge for more than 60 years for waterfowl, and the cranes have found a perfect combination of areas for feeding and roosting. As many as 12,000 cranes have been known to overwinter at the confluence of the Tennessee and Hiwassee rivers.