First, you’ll hear it before you see it.
The ancient call of a single crane can trumpet out for miles. And when they all cry out at once the sound multiplies by the tens or hundreds of thousands.
Each spring, around half a million Sandhill Cranes descend upon a small stretch of the Platte River in Nebraska on their way north to Canada, Alaska and Siberia, from their winter homes in Mexico and the Southwest. Starting around mid February through the first half of April, they rest here to prepare for nesting up north.
The Sandhill Crane migration has been an event we have wanted to see for a few years. As we have traveled across I-80 and noticed the billboards around Kearney, Nebraska highlighting the Crane Festival.
We had originally planned to make this trip a week earlier but were in Chicago. The weather pattern this year worked well and even though we were later than previous years there were plenty of cranes. The last count was 520,000.
Final note on this trip. One should experience this at sometime, as it is well worth the effort to see this migration. Yes, even the non birder would enjoy.
Here are some photos from this year. Enjoy and share the Blog with friends and family.
More photos will be available in a couple weeks when I get home and process several more - you can find them at https://soggymoosephoto.smugmug.com
