flatwear

Tree Hugger

So, my dad is kind of a tree hugger. All our family vacations consist of hiking, biking, camping or some kind of an outdoor adverture. The weekend of March 24 & 25 Dad and I are heading to Grand Island, Nebraska. Why?? The Sandhill Cranes are migrating through Nebraska right now. This is actually our second annual Crane watching trip. The Cranes spend the day in the farmers fields eating grains (which I am sure they love) and by night they land by the thousands on the Platte River. The National Geographic website actually has a live Crane Cam (http://www.ngm.com/cranecam/). You can watch them from the comfort of your own home. Which if you don't have a tree hugger father, I would think this would be the perfered method. Anyway here is the science lesson portion of my post. They are expecting between 50,000 & 500,000 Cranes. This is their peak season they are usually in NE for 6 weeks. They will all have migrated by the first week of April. Last year we went the first week of March and we were a little early. Best viewing times are: Mornings: 6 am to 7:30 am; Evenings: 6 pm to 7:30 pm. It actually is pretty cool to see 500,000 come in and land in the river. It kind of looks like you are being invated. They also make a weird warbly sound. Oddly enough people from around the world come to Nebraska for this event. Hotels are full (we had to make a reservation) and the country side is crawling with people watching the birds. Last year there was even a couple from Australia there. This is definately not a vacation for people who like to spend their time lounging on a beach. Early morning rising is a must. You have to steak out a location along the river or pay to join a tour group which usually leaves around 5 am. So this is my life being the daughter of a tree hugger. Check out the crane cam during the hours listed above. Strangely enough I know all about this. Hmmmm.

Side Note: YEAH FireFox! I just downloaded and changed browsers and now I can post pictures. Happy Day!