66 Nebraskaland • March 2021
out to customers who, if they wish,
can spend the night. A few do. Later
that year, he asked me what I thought
about putting another blind on the
island.
When I'd camped there, I would've
preferred to set up on the east end of
the island, knowing it would be closer
to the cranes. But there wasn't enough
cover to conceal movement between
the tent and blind. And I'm too old to
spend a night in that cozy little blind.
"When can we start?" I said.
We wanted the blind to be big
enough to sleep two, with a little room
to spare, so it's just shy of 8-feet square.
I wanted lots of windows, both high
and low. It has 12, four on each side
facing water: the main channel to the
north, the smaller side channel to the
south and the wide open river to the
east, facing directly into the rising sun.
The lower windows are located a foot
or 2 above the waterline. That crane's-
eye view allows you to capture photos
with a perspective not off ered by other
photo and viewing blinds on the river,
which are typically built on the bank 4
feet, give or take, above the waterline.
A friend of Chad's took our notes and
drew up plans, and his cousin framed
the blind, which we bolted together on
the island just in time for the cranes to
arrive in 2018.
Anyone can see the cranes during
the migration, and plenty do, coming
from around the globe to witness this
world-class spectacle. Drive down
almost any county road within a few
miles of the Platte and you can see
thousands of cranes feeding in the
fi elds. Stand on the bridge over the
Platte on the hike-bike trail at Fort
Kearny SRA or one of the viewing
decks along the river in the morning or
evening, and you can watch thousands
fl y overhead.
Visit a riverside blind, however, and
Cranes stand on a submerged sandbar on a foggy morning as others leave the roost.
