Hey all!
On Wednesday morning (11/12) we had 21,200 (+/- 1,600) Sandhill Cranes in the Central Platte River Valley! About 75% of the cranes were between Highway 281 and Alda Rd. viewing deck. It feels like early spring both on the ground and in the plane. We don’t know if these birds will stick around, till they do. For now, they seem pretty content to hangout, acting like they do in the spring.
Elsa Forsberg, Bethany Ostrom, and Wyatt Trost (Pilot)
We look forward to share these updates when we fly, but if these blog posts seem lacking compared to our spring migration blogs, that is because we don’t know as much about fall behaviors as we do spring. Spring migration, especially around the Platte, is very extensively studied both for Sandhill Cranes and Whooping Cranes. We have decades of data and numerous papers deciphering the patterns during their massive congregation on the Platte. We can stand on the backs of research done before us to make sense of what is happening in the present. However, we don’t have that same level of information on the fall migration, especially focused on the Platte. To put frankly, the Platte wasn’t very important (relative to other areas) for Sandhill Cranes during the fall and winter up until a few years ago when more cranes decided to stop longer than normal. Questions are actively being asked that we need to collect data and research to answer. This is all very exciting but the scientific process takes a long time and some of the novelty of these changes might wear-off before we have concrete answers.
For example, one of our tracked Sandhill Cranes went backwards! (We have stopped updating the 5 cranes since they have reached their wintering grounds and will likely stay in one area during a time they can be hunted.) This crane was in Oklahoma for a few weeks and then moved back into Kansas and seems to be staying there. Why did this bird decide to go back north during a migration meant to go south? Is this a regular thing or just a one-time event? Will they go back south later in the season? We don’t know but it is exciting to watch these events unfold before us! It keeps curiosity moving.
Till next time,
The Crane Counter
(Bethany Ostrom)