Monday, March 28, 2011


On March 21-24 we took a little field trip to the Platte River valley in Nebraska to see the annual migration of the Sandhill Cranes. Most of the cranes gather along a stretch of the Platte River in the Grand Island to Kearney, Nebraska area. The cranes reach their peak of 500,000+ in mid to late March and almost all are gone by mid-April. These birds stand almost 4 feet tall. They gather here in huge numbers to eat corn and soybeans to fatten up for the rest of the journey north. The cranes put on a great show. The sights and sounds of thousands of cranes gathered in one place at one time is truly spectacular and well worth the trip. We have posted more pictures of the cranes below.