on location: midwest ❖
Groups of all kinds, not just hard-core birders, enjoy one of mid-America’s great annual wildlife spectacles
Central Nebraska’s Crane Convention LeisureGroupTravel.com
Nebraska DED Photos
B
undled in layers of thermal clothing, your feet tucked into warm boots, you find yourself shivering in the early-morning darkness inside a quiet wooden shack. As you wrap the fleece blanket tighter around you—your Thermos of coffee and binoculars nearby—you may ask yourself what you are doing in the middle of Nebraska in the pre-dawn of an early spring day. Then, you hear it. It starts slowly—as a quiet roar—and builds to an unimaginable volume. As the sun crawls over the horizon bringing first light, the deafening sound is joined by a breathtaking sight: thousands upon thousands of sandhill cranes waking up, shuffling about and calling out in their plaintive, trilling call. Soon, throngs of the majestic birds take flight, darkening the early morning sky. It is an astounding wildlife spectacle that can only be truly appreciated in person. Each year between late February and mid-April, more than a half million sandhill cranes descend on the Platte River Valley in Central Nebraska to rest and recharge en route to their summer breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and Siberia. The cranes—a species in existence for more than nine million years— are drawn to the valley’s abundant food and shelter from predators. Feeding on waste corn found in nearby fields, the cranes will gain up to a pound of weight during their stay in Nebraska. It is weight the birds will use to complete the final portion of their northern migration. Without it, the journey would be impossible. During the six-week period, nearly 80 percent of the world’s sandhill crane population passes through the area. In addition to cranes, more than 10 million ducks and geese, majestic bald eagles and possibly the endangered whooping crane migrate through the area. December 2011 35