2015 Faves, Part 2

Another fun experience in 2015 was my trip to the Platte River in Nebraska, in early spring to photograph the migrating Sandhill Cranes. I always enjoy a 3-4 day trip to the Platte River, where there can be several hundred thousand cranes and, if lucky, you might even spot a Whooping Crane in the crowd! Here are some of my favorite images from my trip this year to the Platte River:

Sandhill Cranes returning to the river to roost, as the sun begins to set

Sandhill Cranes foraging in cornfield

Silhouetted Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes returning to the river to roost

Sandhill Cranes returning to the river to roost, as the sun begins to set

Sandhill Cranes returing to the Platte River to roost, as the sun sets

Sandhill Cranes returning to the river to roost

Sandhill Cranes returning to the river to roost

Sandhill Cranes returning to the river to roost

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Crane jumping with joy

Sandhill Cranes returning to the river to roost

And in addition to all the cranes, other wildlife is often seen just by being alert and a wary eye open, like wild turkey:

Wild Turkey

And Ring-necked Pheasant:

Ring-necked Pheasant forages in a cornfield

Ring-necked Pheasant forages in a cornfield

And lots of ducks along the Platte River, like the Ring-necked Duck:

Ring-necked Ducks

I always enjoy visiting the Platte River in March! On a sad note, I received an e-mail notice just before Christmas from the Iaian Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary (where I like to shoot the sunset/crane images) indicating some important changes in their blind policy. Tripods are no longer allowed in the blinds (monopods are, but shooting in extremely low light will not be possible). Another change is that they are adding a “photographer’s crane viewing tour”, but they jacked the price up to between 2x and 3x the price of the normal blind price. And lastly, once it gets dark enough for the camera LCD (on the rear of the camera) to shine on your face, you must put away the camera; they note that this prevents the cranes from being “spooked” by the glow on a person’s face. Well, I’ve been in one of the blind there many times, over many years, and the only thing that I’ve ever seen spook the cranes is a bald eagle passing overhead! So it looks like I need to find another location on the Platte :o)

And if you missed “Part 1” of my 2015 favorites, you can find that post here:  “2015 Faves, Part 1”

 

 

 

 

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