Tourism: Visitors Flocking To View Sandhill Cranes

NEBRASKA CITY – Nebraska is already a stay-over choice of hundreds of thousands of Sandhill cranes and the Nebraska Tourism Commission says people are starting to catch on.

The Tourism Commission reports over 68,000 website sessions ahead of the migration and Director John Ricks is quick to repeat the Jane Goodall quote that the  Sandhill cranes make one of the greatest wildlife migrations on Earth.

Dusty Barner of the North Platte outdoor outfitter Dusty Trails said crane tours will be starting up in about three weeks.

Barner: “You come into the blind in the early morning, in the dark, we come in. We set in place and we watch the cranes as they come to life in the morning, just as the sun comes up. They get real active and fly off and you’re looking at, you know, a couple hundred thousand cranes packed in there. Very active, very loud. It’s hard to even talk to the person sitting next to you.”

He said the flock is spectacular, but each bird is also impressive with a six-foot wingspan and height of four feet.

Ricks said website traffic is busier than ever in key markets, but with increased visitors comes the need for viewing etiquette.

 

 Dusty Trails offers a bus tour on rural county roads, where the cranes forage for food and practice their courtship dance.

Barner: “That’s a very unique experience that you get to view them at a different aspect as opposed to standing in the shallows waters and where they spend their nights roosting on the overnights.”

Barner said one important way to view is by staying in your vehicle.

Barner: “Anybody getting out of the vehicle, closing their car doors, walking towards  them,  snapping pictures, can disturb them. And after they get disturbed several times in an area they are going to fly off.”

He said causing the birds to fly off before they are ready can be harmful.

Barner: “It’s very important for these cranes to lay over for the six weeks that they are here and gain 10 percent of their body weight so they can make the fly the need to clear up into Siberia.”

Forbes Magazine has  labeled the Platte Spring Migration as the number one place in the world  for bird watchers.