Jump! Dance!

A Million Cranes come to rest and feed, preparing for the next leg of the migration journey.  Along with these essential activities, another important event is taking place.  This stay in the Platte Valley acts as a giant mixer where numerous birds interact.  The juvenile cranes from the previous year will soon separate from their parents and begin to engage with one another, likely choosing a mate.

This interaction takes the form of Dancing.  The cranes jump into the air, posture, toss corn cobs, and call out to one another. Following these activities is one of the most fascinating aspects of this wondrous time along the Platte River.

Early Morning on the Platte

6:00 AM.  It’s about 90 minutes until sunrise.  We shuffle down the path, our steps lit by our red headlamps. We are moving parallel to the river, with the Cottonwoods and Willows between us and the water.

The cranes are softly murmuring as we arrive and quietly enter the blind. The scene is one of dark shapes and lines lit by moonlight.

With normal light still hours away, it's an excellent opportunity for long-exposure photography to capture the unfolding beauty!

An Explosion of Sound!

We've just returned from a week in the Central Platte Valley of Nebraska, where we watched the annual Migration of the Sandhill Cranes. Over a million of these birds gather from across the Southwest (Texas, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico) to rest and refuel before continuing their journey to the breeding grounds of Canada, Alaska, and Siberia.

The Crane Trust estimates the number of birds in the Central Platte (roughly Grand Island to Overton) weekly. On March 17th, It counted 730,000 birds, a record for the number of birds at one time. The count is done by a trained team in aircraft, using visual observation and photography.

This video is from a blind along Platte at Rowe Sanctuary. It can give you an idea of what those numbers look and sound like (play with the sound ON!).