I know. I know. You think I am crazy.Part of me thinks so too.
I have heard what you have been saying. "Why not the beaches of Hawaii, a show on Broadway, shopping in NY? They all have so much to offer." But Nebraska has much to offer too and for birders, the most notable reason to go to Nebraska is to see the hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes on the Platte river in March. That is a lot of crane in one place! Which, allows for nature to put on a spectacular show of number and sound, with the rising sun as its backdrop. I can hardly wait to see it!
Below is a video taken at the Rowe sanctuary near Kearney (pronounced Carney). You only need a few seconds to get a feel for what it will be like there. Oh yeah, and the sounds you hear... thats the cranes!
Another part of the experience of going to Omaha, in March, is the weather. Below is an excerpt from another birders trip report. It forewarns to the weather we may experience and the necessity to pack gear for all types of weather. The prospect of bad weather, however, also gets me excited. Because, to have a great adventure you have to pay a price. To witness the Cranes taking off, with the sun, over the Platte River the price, I expect, will be cold. I look forward to paying it.
"How should you dress if you go there? Well, the day before we arrived it was sunny and calm with the temperature in the 60's. The Thursday we arrived it was raining hard, the temps were dropping into the low 30's and the wind was blowing very hard out of the northwest. On Friday we awoke to a temperature of -10 degrees F, accompanied by winds topping out at 50 mph, giving us wind chills of at least 30-40 degrees below zero--the most breath-taking cold we've ever experienced! Saturday it snowed all morning, but the wind abated, making the 25 degree temperatures feel downright balmy. By Sunday the wind had picked up again but was blowing hard out of the south, so by the time we pulled into the rental car return lot at the Lincoln Municipal Airport, the temperatures had once again climbed into the 60's. Enough said?"
-Norm and Fran Sanders
wow, that movie was crazy. I am excited for you and am glad you love it so much! The first thing that came to mind for me when I watched that little movie was the movie "Birds". I got a little freaked out.
ReplyDeleteGrew up in Nebraska and I remember all the varieties of birds. Some of the pheasants are breathtaking! Visited my grandpa on the border of southern Neb. and got to see fields full of wild turkeys. It's amazing to see them fly. I remember the wind too. We would get snowed in with only one foot of snow. My dad would climb out the window to shovel out our door. One more reason to LOVE these mountains. Have an amazing and safe trip.
ReplyDeletePS... Paul has been enjoying reading your posts on facebook.
Have a wonderful trip! I hope the weather plays in the nicer end of things.
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