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Smoky Valley Trip - 2001 Tallgrass
Prairie Trip - 2002
WINGS OVER THE PLATTE - THE GPNC GOES
CRANE WATCHING!
The spring migration of the sandhill
cranes in North America produces the largest and most spectacular concentration of cranes
in the world. Up to 500,000 birds linger along an 80 mile stretch of the Platte
River in central Nebraska each spring. Seven people joined GPNC naturalists Connie
Elpers and Jim Mason for a two day trip to see and hear these birds on March 19 & 20,
2001.
Our trip up included a stop at Rock City near Minneapolis,
Kansas. This extraordinary collection of large sandstone concretions is unique in
the world. Click here to see a 475K mpeg
video of Rock City.
We arrived in late afternoon and went by the
visitor center at Ft.
Kearny to see their slide show on the cranes and pick up local maps. Afterwards
we drove the back roads along the Platte River and observed the birds feeding and dancing
in the fields in the afternoon sun. We checked in at Rowe Sanctuary to confirm our morning reservation
in the blind, and then drove to Ft.
Kearny State Recreation Area to hike out on the old railroad bridge and watch the
birds fly in for the evening. On the
second day we were up at 4 AM to get to the viewing blind before daybreak. Phil, a
volunteer from Victoria, British Columbia, met the group at the rendezvous point, gave us
all instructions on viewing etiquette and led us to the blind. The weather was all
we could hope for - just a little wind and not too cold with a scattered cloud cover that
promised excellent viewing at sunrise! As our eyes adjusted to the dark, we listened
to the distinctive, spine-tingling chortles and bugles of the birds only a short distance
in front of us. All we could see were grey swaths on the river. As sunrise
approached, the bugling became louder as the birds greeted the day and we became aware
that what we thought were islands in the river were actually tens of thousands of sandhill
cranes!
Take a look at the panorama below to see what the
view upriver looked like. Another large group of cranes was immediately in front of
the blind (to the right of this picture). Phil told us this was the largest number
of cranes he had ever seen there! An estimated 400,000 cranes were on the Platte
that day. |
| Not only did we see a HUGE number of cranes, but the birds
lingered on the river for quite a while, with four large waves of departures. Each
time a group of cranes flew away, the sound of their combined calls was almost deafening.
Click here to see a 475K mpeg movie of a
sky full of cranes! As if the cranes weren't amazing enough, we had Canada Geese, Common
Mergansers and Green-winged Teal on the river also. Two beavers went about their
business swimming up and down the river in front of us. A raccoon ambled by and two
deer could be seen on a far sand bar. At one point a Bald Eagle flew over, spooking
up one of the crane departures. |
Cheryl, George, Don, Sherry, Doug, Connie, Gary, Diane & Jim
were all smiles after a morning of crane watching!
(That's a model crane at Ft. Kearny.)
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