A Sandhill Crane leaps into the air in a jump‑rake display, wings spread wide and one leg kicked outward toward its nearby partner, who appears to be looking away. Several other cranes stand and forage in the harvested cornfield around them, and a line of bare trees forms a muted backdrop.

He gives his best jump‑rake flourish, but his partner, unimpressed by the performance, walks away.

​National Geographic calls the spring migration of the Sandhill Cranes through central Nebraska “one of the greatest wildlife phenomena in North America.” 


If you are a birder, a wildlife photographer, or a nature lover, I consider this a "must-do" for your bucket list!


In 2017, I was lucky enough to spend the entire spring migration season in Nebraska with the Sandhill Cranes! It had been on my bucket list for quite some time. I had gotten a small taste of it 10 years before when my husband completed a two-month assignment in Grand Island. That year, we left at the beginning of March when the cranes were starting to arrive, but what I saw in those first few weeks literally blew my mind!

​What makes central Nebraska so unique?

During the winter, the Sandhill Cranes spread out all across the southern United States and Mexico. In the summer, they breed and nest throughout Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. But, during their stay in Nebraska, they will all congregate within the 50-mile stretch of the Platte River between Grand Island and Kearney!

Hundreds of Sandhill Cranes gather in a shallow wetland at dawn, with many standing in the water while others fly overhead through soft mist. Bare trees form a dark silhouette against the pastel sky filled with cranes in flight.

A vast congregation of Sandhill Cranes settles into the wetlands at daybreak, their calls echoing as flocks lift and land in steady motion.

The Sandhill Crane season normally starts around mid-February and ends in late March or early April.


During this time, arrivals and departures fluctuate constantly. The peak of the 2017 season had an official count of 406,000 Sandhill Cranes, and by season's end, more than 500 thousand Sandhill Cranes had visited this little stretch of the Platte River!


This is the path they have followed for thousands of years, and the Platte River has everything they need to sustain them during their stay. The river’s shallow water allows them a safe place to roost at night, and the cornfields and prairie on either side of the Platte are perfect for feeding during the day.


Each crane will stay for 3 to 4 weeks. While in Nebraska, they focus on resting and feeding, gaining as much as 20% of their body weight to complete their journey north. For some of these birds, it’s close to a 5,000-mile journey! The unmated cranes will also spend this time looking for a mate, which is serious business since cranes mate for life.


During the day, I spent most of my time driving the country roads along the Platte River and viewing the birds in the cornfields. The early arrivals landed closer to Grand Island on the southern side of the river and began working their way west as more and more birds arrived. While some of the birds fed on the north side of the river, I felt like most stayed on the south side and only moved to the north side once food became scarce. Very late in the season, they could mostly be found closer to Kearney on the northern side of Interstate 80.

A large flock of Sandhill Cranes fills a golden‑brown grassland, with six cranes in the foreground captured in mid‑flight, their wings fully extended and necks outstretched. Hundreds more cranes stand densely across the field in the background.

Morning light catches six Sandhill Cranes rising from a vast congregation on the grasslands, a snapshot of the species’ remarkable seasonal gathering.

River access is difficult to find because all of the property along the Platte is privately owned. However, you do have a few options to see the cranes on their roost from sunset to sunrise. I took advantage of several tours at the Crane Trust and the Audubon Rowe Sanctuary, which were both excellent. They each provide a few free public viewing areas on their land, but for a close-up view of the crane, you will need to pay for one of their tours.


Around mid-season, I discovered a small Mom & Pop company called Crane Cabin Retreat. Chad has one cabin to rent out and will offer blind tours for sunrise, sunset, and overnight. It was his first season to be open to the public, but I expect him to be busier once word gets out about his place. His location is better suited for sunrise. You are facing the wrong direction to catch the sunset here, but the birds fly in low overhead, and if you are fortunate, they might decide to roost very close to the edge of the property at night. His property sits on one of the three largest roosts on the Platte River. Crane Trust and Rowe sit on the other two. 

​

The highlight of our season was the VIP Experience at the Crane Trust.  The experience began late in the afternoon with a meet-and-greet among the other guests and the Crane Trust staff. We had enough time for a small break before heading out for the Sunset Blind Tour in their special VIP blind. This blind sits right next to the researcher's blind and is much closer to the main roost than the blind they use for their public tours.


After the cranes came in for the night, they served a wonderful dinner and concluded the evening with a short informational talk about the Sandhill Cranes and the Crane Trust's work with them. We spent the night in a cabin that was close enough to the water that we could hear the cranes trumpeting all night long, and then we were up early for the VIP Sunrise Tour. The experience concluded with a nice breakfast and a tour of the Crane Trust facility. It was wonderful and a great way to "see it all" if you don't have enough time to experience the Sandhill Cranes on an extended visit!


I have to laugh. It was such an amazing experience that I'm really at a loss for words to explain it properly.

Three Sandhill Cranes glide across a moonlit sky, their silhouettes cutting cleanly against the deep blue night.

A trio of Sandhill Cranes flies in formation beneath a full moon, silhouetted cleanly against the evening sky.

I have written a cute little story about the image above, it tells about our Sandhill Crane viewing experience that night and how Moonlit Flight came to be. You can read the story of Moonlit Flight here.

I took somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 images throughout the season and have so many great images that I finally just stopped editing. I occasionally revisit my image files and add new ones. Many more great images are not shown in this post.

Not every image makes it into my blog. If you enjoyed the photos in this article, please check out my Sandhill Crane Collection for more pictures of the Cranes or visit my Image Gallery, which has over 4000 images of locations from around the United States.

Set the tone for a cozy, welcoming space with “Flight Across the Sandhills.” The earthy palette and graceful silhouettes pair beautifully with warm woods, leather seating, and soft ambient lighting.

Set the tone for a cozy, welcoming space with “Flight Across the Sandhills.” The earthy palette and graceful silhouettes pair beautifully with warm woods, leather seating, and soft ambient lighting.


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