Witnessing the majesty of the crane migration

Editor describes immersive tour at Rowe Sanctuary

As sunset nears and a golden glow is cast on the Platte River near Kearney, thousands of Sandhill Cranes fill the sky and will soon begin to land on the sandbars to overnight.
As sunset nears and a golden glow is cast on the Platte River near Kearney, thousands of Sandhill Cranes fill the sky and will soon begin to land on the sandbars to overnight.

The annual spring migration of more than a million Sandhill Cranes from winter locations around the nation and the world back to their nesting grounds in the Nebraska Sandhills and beyond is quite a spectacle. Those who have lived long in this part of the country know that the familiar whirring sound of the cranes’ calls and the sight of long, twisting bands of the big birds moving through the ski…