Hey all,
After a long foggy week, we counted 402,000 +/- 40,000 Sandhill Cranes between Chapman and Overton, Nebraska, this morning (March 7 th ). This is above average for this time of year and, much like the last count (week 2), the numbers are closer to next week’s 10-year average. This continues to point to how the migration is moving earlier every year. Bridge segment 1 (Chapman to Hwy 34), 2 (Hwy 34 to Hwy 281), and 3 (Hwy 281 to Alda Rd.) had around 90,000 cranes each! Numbers like this east of Hwy 281 have become more common in the last few years. The remaining 132,000 cranes were spread throughout the rest of the Central Platte River, with concentrations east of Kearney and between Alda Rd. and Prosser Rd. The cranes were congregated in massive roosts this morning, by the 10s of thousands. For context, the picture is of the 3 rd or 4 th largest roost of the morning. The largest roost was nearly twice as large!
Numbers will continue to grow especially in the west this next week! Hopefully the weather cooperates with us more and we won’t have to wait as long for the next survey.
Till next week,
10-year average last week: 108,300
10-year max last week: 272,000 (2024)
10-year average current week: 311,500
10-year max current week: 583,000 (2025)
10-year average next week: 434,000
10-year max next week: 736,000 (2025)
