34 Nebraskaland • January-February 2022
in the U.S. determined to be critical
habitat for the species. The Crane Trust,
the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon
Society, the Platte River Recovery and
Implementation Program, Nebraska
Game and Parks Commission, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and others have
worked to restore and protect habitat
for the birds, as well as for other
threatened and endangered species:
the interior least tern, piping plover
and pallid sturgeon. This work also
benefits the roughly 1 million sandhill
cranes that stop each spring and other
wildlife, too.
The day after the large group of
cranes gathered near the South Alda
Road bridge, I found more than 30
whooping cranes a few miles upriver
on a stretch that flows between my
friend's property and property owned
and managed by the Platte River
Recovery Implementation Program. I
photographed them from a distance
until they left to feed in the morning.
I returned to the river when they did,
lying in brush on the bank for more
than two hours as they loafed and
foraged. A few juveniles playfully
danced, but most of the birds simply
stood facing into the strong north
wind. By noon, most of the birds,
one family group or small flock at
a time, lifted their wings, put that
wind to their back and continued their
migration; the survey flight found just
17 birds on the river the following day.
I hope to see some of them again
this spring.
N
