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story affair with heat and air-conditioning. With a set of bleachers in the main room, it can
hold quite a crowd, and it is equipped with two spotting scopes. The main view is through a
large window to the north, overlooking a pond where large numbers of ducks congregate in
the winter. This pond is often seeded with corn to feed the birds, and it has fields on either
side. Sometimes numbering in the thousands, the ducks on this pond can make a spectacu-
lar sight. Often seen are mallard, blue-winged teal, American wigeon, black duck, Canada
goose, and American coot. Also possible here are bufflehead, canvasback, green-winged teal,
redhead, ring-necked duck, lesser scaup, gadwall, northern shoveler, snow goose, pied-billed
grebe, and various herons. There is a microphone set up on a pole in the middle of the lake,
and speakers in the observation building allow you to hear the ducks. Mallard, black duck,
wood duck, and Canada goose all nest on the refuge in small numbers.
American Wigeon
South of the visitor center is a half-mile loop trail that takes you through a cypress swamp
and alongside some fields. This is the Atkeson Cypress Trail, and it begins with a boardwalk
through the swamp. Watch for hawks over the fields.
The refuge has a bird list with over 304 species on it. With its fortunate location, Wheeler
has had a good share of accidental and unusual birds. Some of the rarities, at least for
Alabama, that have been spotted at Wheeler include: red-throated loon, fulvous whistling
duck, tundra swan, Ross's goose, Brant, barnacle goose, Egyptian goose, Eurasian wigeon,
king eider, harlequin duck, surf scoter, white-winged scoter, masked duck, Swainson's hawk,
rough-legged hawk, red knot, northern saw-whet owl, Sprague's pipit, Lapland longspur, red
crossbill, and yellow-headed blackbird.
A great deal of the refuge is water, and another large portion is in fields that are managed
to provide food and shelter for birds. One of the best places to observe birds in fields is on the
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