Today’s blog post is my first from the Platte River in central Nebraska. Yesterday was my first day of shooting along the Platte River and I awoke at 4:30am to get an early start to a blind I had reserved a spot in, along the Platte River. The weather forecast for Tuesday morning included the “f” word … fog! Being set for some interesting photography on the Platte River, I headed out hoping to catch the cranes in some dense fog. Alas, the sky was mostly cloudy but no fog!
No problem, just wait for the sun to peep up over the Platte River, enhancing the thousands of Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) that roost in the middle of the Platte River. Alas, that would not happen either! OK, no fog … no sunrise … what else could happen?
How about a life bird? Indeed, the fog and the sunrise may have evaded me, but I captured my first images of the rare and endangered Whooping Crane (Grus americana)! A single “whooper” was roosting among the throngs of Sandhills (an estimated 20,000-25,000 along this portion of the Platte River), and sticking out like a sore thumb! Although the whooper was roosting near the far banks of the Platte River, I did grab some shots:
This was a thrilling day for me! Let’s see what tomorrow brings :o)
