World’s largest gathering of sandhill cranes just four hours north of Wichita

Reading about the annual sandhill crane migration hints at the fact that it’s a spectacle. Seeing photographs of thousands of the birds flying thick to rest on the river for the night begins to capture the magnificence of the event. Video clips add the soundtrack that takes you even closer to a live performance.

But, like most things, there’s nothing quite like experiencing in person the movement of as many as 400,000 cranes that come to roost on the river at sunset and take off just as the sun rises each morning. Fortunately for Kansans, it happens in central Nebraska every year and the communities there have made viewing the migration convenient and fun.

Each February through early April, approximately 600,000 sandhill cranes – more than 80 percent of the world’s population – congregate on Nebraska’s Platte River. The river is along North American’s Central Flyway and offers a habitat where the cranes can stop during their journey north from Mexico, New Mexico and Texas. A crane will stay for about three weeks to rest and eat enough to add 20 percent of its body weight as it prepares for to continue on to Minnesota, Alaska, Canada and as far as Siberia.

Here’s the trick: your best chance to see them is early in the morning and in the evening. During the day they are in the cornfields eating and not so easy to spot.

I went for the first time last year and can confirm that it’s awesome enough to become a morning person for a couple of days. If you opt for a guided tour, you’ll have access to viewing blinds. Still, it will be colder than you expect. The temperatures this time of year are chilly, plus you’ll have to sit still for several hours at a time. In order to not disturb the cranes, you arrive well before the sun rises and wait for them all to depart. The same at night: arrive well before the sun sets and they start to come in for the night, and wait until it’s dark to slip out of the blind to leave.

Our group managed to not scare off the cranes, though one of the most amazing sights of my trip was when an eagle startled a group of about 15,000 cranes that had just landed on the stretch of river in front of our blind. The mass departure sounded like the crowd at a basketball game reaching a fever pitch.

The Crane Trust is one of two viewing options I experienced. It’s about 20 miles southwest of Grand Island, the third largest city in Nebraska behind Omaha and Lincoln.

The trust, celebrating its 40th year, owns and manages about 10,000 acres of land. The Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center is free and open to the public year-round while its sister property, Crane Trust Wild Rose Ranch, is open only to those who have booked an excursion there.

The center has indoor nature exhibits and an art gallery as well as outdoor areas to explore: a butterfly garden, a few head from the trust’s herd of American bison and roughly 10 miles of nature trails along the Platte River. You can get information on viewing cranes via a Crane Trust tour or pick up a map for self-guided wildlife viewing in nearby areas.

They offer morning and evening guided tours to blinds on the Platte River through March 31 for $35 per person. Evening guided tours to a private footbridge over the Platte River are $15 per person. Overnight photo/viewing blind stays are $250 for up to two people.

About 35,000 visitors come to the Crane Trust every March, the rest of the year 11,000 visit. While their main mission is to protect the land, they want people to experience the land to appreciate its importance. They’ve created year-round nature opportunities, including all-inclusive VIP summer packages that include overnight lodging in one of their recently built cottages, meals and guided excursions on the Wild Rose Ranch. Activities range from riding fat tire bicycles along the river to hiking, kayaking and taking an off-road tour near a herd of genetically pure bison. During the migration, VIP packages include sandhill crane viewing in heated blinds that get you as close to the action as possible.

Another popular viewing location is the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary, which is about 20 miles east of Kearney, a city of about 30,000. The center has four miles of walking trails and attracts birdwatchers year-round, though nothing like the 23,000 who arrive to see the cranes during the eight-week migration timeframe each spring.

They have a straw bale visitor center with a gift shop and educational displays. Crane viewing experiences are offered daily through April 8. An indoor option takes place from the visitor center for $15 per person. To get closer, take one of their morning or evening guided general crane tours to the blinds on the Platte River for $35 per person. For $10 per person, you can ride a hayrack through the sanctuary while learning more about the habitat of the cranes or sign up for the crane behavior basics workshop. They also offer a guided and overnight photo excursions.

Both of these options are less than 4.5 hours’ drive from Wichita. There are plenty of hotels in the nearby cities and other attractions to explore while in the area. If you don’t make it this year, watch the Audubon Center’s live Crane Cam at http://rowe.audubon.org/crane-cam and start planning for an in-person visit.

If you go:

Sandhill crane migration, February-early April

General information: NebraskaFlyway.com

Kearney, about 300 miles northwest of Wichita

General Information: visitkearney.org

- Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary: rowe.audubon.org

Grand Island, about 270 miles north of Wichita

General information: visitgrandisland.com

- Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center: cranetrust.org

- Crane Trust year-round excursions: cranetrustexcursions.org

This story was originally published March 25, 2018 at 9:00 AM with the headline "World’s largest gathering of sandhill cranes just four hours north of Wichita."