Platte River, March 2026: Cranes in Corn

At sunrise and sunset you can find the Sandhill Cranes in the river, where they sleep secure from predators in the shallow water.  During the day, they head to the nearby corn fields to feed.

Even though Nebraska is the only state where the cranes can't be hunted, they're still very wary.  It was a struggle to get close enough for good photos, even using my car as a blind.

In addition to feeding, the cranes sometimes do pair-bonding dances.  I was fortunate enough to see some.

Portraits are nice.  Capturing behavior like this is always nicer.

But portraits were mainly what were available, when I could visually isolate a crane from its companions.

I didn't spend too much time in the fields, since they were spread over nearly 40 miles and spotting cranes I could actually photograph was more often a matter of luck than not.  But I appreciated all the time I did get to see some of these awesome birds!

Related Links:

• Platte River, March 2026: Cranes in Flight