Crane spectacle takes flight over Platte River

It was just before the pandemic that I last went to see one of the most amazing natural spectacles on the face of the earth – the annual migration of the Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) in south-central Nebraska.

For the past 30-plus years, I have led a trip to see the crane migration each spring. I looked forward to it every year, like visiting an old friend.

This year, I had an incredible group of 10 who were so fun and just as excited to see the cranes as I was. The dynamics of a group can make or break a trip, and this group was perfect. Getting up at 4 a.m. to go out in the cold and dark is not easy, so having an energetic group is always a good thing.

We made our way to south-central Nebraska, where hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes gather on their northward springtime migration. A stretch of just 80 miles along the Platte River hosts upwards of a half-million cranes each spring.

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Upon our arrival, we had gray skies and high winds, but the agricultural fields near the Platte River were home to many flocks of Sandhill Cranes. It wasn’t unusual to see 500 or more cranes in just one location. Towards evening, the cranes started to move back toward the Platte River. The Platte River, a large river in southern Nebraska, runs over 300 miles long before it terminates into the Missouri River. The Platte is a very shallow, meandering river with a sandy bottom and, most importantly, hundreds of small islands or sandbars, which are perfect for the cranes to roost overnight.

After a hot dinner and a few drinks, we went to bed looking forward to watching the sunrise and seeing thousands of cranes. When my alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. I wasn’t happy about getting out of bed, but when I did, I looked out the window, and all I could see was snow blowing horizontally. Not a good start. The 30 mph plus wind was driving snow horizontally, causing the roads to be shut down and stranding us in the hotel.

Following breakfast, we ventured into the snow-covered landscape to see how the cranes were doing and observe other birds. It was a very productive morning. By noon, the snow stopped, and by 4 p.m., the skies on the western horizon started to clear. Temperatures were just above freezing, so the snow started to melt. We made our way over to the river at sunset to watch the cranes fly in from the surrounding areas to roost.

We had a wonderful sunset and saw thousands of cranes and a few hundred Snow Geese flying into the river. Watching this is always a spiritual experience.

For thousands of years, these Sandhill Cranes have been visiting the Platte River on their migration northward. There are no cranes that nest in Nebraska; they are just passing through. The Sandhill Cranes are among the oldest birds in North America, with fossils of Sandhills dating back 2.5 million years being common. A crane fossil (a similar species of crane) found in Nebraska is estimated to be about 10 million years old. Either way you cut it, the cranes have been around a long, long time.

The next morning, my alarm went off again at 3:45 a.m., and this time, when I looked out the window, the sky was clear, and the wind had calmed. From all my years of coming to see the crane migration, I knew it was going to be a great morning. We packed up and drove over to the blinds we had reserved. After a 15-minute walk in the dark down a gravel pathway, we entered the wooden structure (blind) on the banks of the Platte River. Even though it was so dark that we couldn’t see anything, we could definitely hear thousands of cranes right out in front of us.

Slowly, as the sun rose in the eastern sky, it provided enough light for us to see that more than 10,000 cranes were standing in the shallow waters of the Platte River right in front of us. As it grew brighter, the cranes became louder. Soon, groups of cranes (family units) began taking off from the river, heading out for the day to find food. Hundreds of cranes were flying at the same time, often with the entire flock taking off simultaneously in a thunderous and chaotic blast.

But not this morning. This time, they seemed to depart from the river in a slow but steady pattern.

Over the next couple of hours, the cranes slowly peeled off from the roosting flock and headed out to feed. With thousands of cranes still in the river, our group was getting cold and hungry, so we left the blind and headed back. We had just experienced one of the most amazing and spectacular wildlife events in North America.

It was so good to be back visiting my old friends, the Sandhill Cranes. Until next time …

Editor’s note: Stan Tekiela’s NatureSmart column appears twice a month in the Eden Prairie Local News. Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively across the United States to study and capture wildlife images.

You can follow his work on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at www.naturesmart.com.