So Many Cranes!!!!

Sandhill Crane dancing

Spent today driving around central Nebraska looking for cranes and other birds. We ended up seeing thousands of cranes and going to Nebraska Nature and Visitor Center. Here we saw Dr Paul Johnsgard speak - he has written books about the Platte, Nebraska birds and Cranes. This guy would be an awesome Ornithology professor. We ended our day standing on a bridge watching the cranes land in the river and another nice sunset. Another lovely day. If I lived here, I would be out every night watching the birds - you can never get too many cranes!

Dr Johnsgard speaking out Nebraska birds

Roadside sign along the Platte

Hanging out in the corn fields

Standing on a bridge at sunset watching the cranes

A group of cranes riding the thermals on the way in for the evening

Sunset over the Platte

Birding near Kearney

Me and a couple of my crane friends!

After an amazing morning in the blind yesterday morning, my parents and I grabbed a quick breakfast. Next up on the agenda, driving around south central Nebraska looking for birds. There were the usual suspects and a few birds that haven't made their way back to Minnesota yet. I saw my first kestrels of the year - a couple males sitting on the power lines. Robins, red-winged blackbirds, sandpipers and various waterfowl. LOTS of hawks and turkeys. Hundreds of geese and of course THOUSANDS of cranes. I am still on the lookout for fewer less common species but we will see how it goes.

CRANES!

Red-tailed Hawk

My dad nearly hitting a wild turkey. Okay he wasn't even close but this pictures makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Red-winged Blackbird

Cranes at Sunrise!

Foggy morning

 Before sunrise this morning my dad and I headed out to Rowe Sanctuary to see the cranes take off in the morning. The guides guesstimated the crane count at 10,000 to 15,000 birds. Three hours later, I had seen more birds than I ever imagined with the birds still hanging out in the river. They were super close and I got some awesome pictures! Breathtaking!!

Cranes starting to take off

Flying over the Platte

So many!

Sandhills

Stretching the wings!

Platte Sunset

  

We arrived at Kearney Nebraska last night just in time to see the sunset. This was exciting because all the cranes fly to the Platte River from the corn field to roost for the night. We found a park that had a viewing bridge over the river. I got to enjoy a beautiful sunset and watch cranes come in for nearly an hour!