Sandhill Cranes

We arrived in Kearney Nebraska to try and view the migrating Sandhill Cranes around 3ish on Sunday, March 11. First we checked into a motel and then we had dinner at Whiskey Creek- recommended by Matt who hails from Kearney and absolutely despises Sandhill Cranes with an unhealthy passion- which was very good. I had a Jim Beam marinaded steak which although good, pails in comparison to the average steak that Russ brings camping with him and that generally gets cooked over an open fire. After dinner it was off to the public viewing area at Fort Kearny State Recreation Area.

The Sandhill Cranes are interesting in that they winter and summer in many different locations, but nearly all of them meet in the Sandhills of Nebraska in the spring and fall to stop, have a break, get some food and inevitably party in the middle of their migrations.
The weather on Sunday was wonderful, but as the evening wore on, it got progressively chillier. We were able to bundle Corwin up satisfactorily, but I remained a bit cool. The cranes were supposed to show up at around 6ish, but they didn't arrive until 7:15ish. We nearly gave up on them, but another fellow told us to stick around as there was a large flock in a field just over over a couple of hills. We waited it out and got to see many formations of birds flying above us. Without exaggerating I would guess that there were at least 10 t0 20 thousand birds in the sky. They never did land in the river near enough to us to get any good pictures, unfortunately.
The next morning, it was cold and rather foggy. We got to another public viewing site at around 6:30 but never did see anything other than some light ghostly cranes flying overhead. You'll notice the cool hat I'm wearing. It's an old Mack Trucks stocking cap from my youth that I found in my folks house this year. It was a present from my father from when he must have been close to my age.
Later we went to Rowe Sanctuary and saw many cranes flying over the river. Corwin had a grand time playing on the path to the viewing blind. Rowe gives out guided tours to viewing the Cranes in the evening and morning, but Corwin is still too young to go on one of these.


After leaving Rowe we cruised a couple of gravel roads where we saw a truly impressive flock of cranes hanging out.
We crept up slowly on them and watched for a good minute before they all suddenly took to wing.
At first we thought that these birds have really slow reactions if they are just now running away from us. But then, we too heard the train whistle in the background. The trip was worthwhile, but also a bit disappointing. I really wanted to see the dance that Sandhill Cranes are known for. But we got some good intel for the next trip. I think that our best bet will be to have someone baby sit Corwin and Baby overnight so Anke and I can rent a blind and cabin. We also need to get a telephoto lense for out DSLR.

A special thanks goes out to Maurice for allowing me to borrow his Jeep. That allowed Inga, Andre, Anouk, Corwin, Anke, myself and all our gear to travel to the middle of Nebraska in one vehicle, making the trip much simpler.