Friendship Force of Lincoln Welcomes Ambassadors to the Sandhill Crane Capital of the World

Eighteen Midwesterners observed more than 1 million Sandhill Cranes the evening of Tuesday, March 10, and again on Wednesday morning, March 11.  The meetups were at the Crane Trust, near Alda, and at the Audubon Rowe Sanctuary, near Gibbon.  Both sites are on the Platte River. Ten Friendship Force members from Grand Rapids and Des Moines in Iowa, and St. Louis, Missouri, joined eight Friendship Force members from Lincoln.

On the evening of March 11, the eighteen ambassadors had a very close observation, in pre-paid blinds, of the groups of cranes as they circled the area to find their roosting places for the night in the waters of the Platte. The birds had come in from the foraging sites, corn and milo fields, several miles away. But before they landed, they circled in their groups around the area several times until they knew it was safe to land.  It was not unusual to see a group start coming in, only to lift and begin circling again.  They obviously heard an animal or some noise or saw a light nearby.  By 9 p.m., the cranes were mostly settled in for the night.

The cranes have been stopping at the Platte River sites for many, many thousands of years. The Sandhill cranes are eating the plentiful grains in the fields to prepare their bodies for the next phase of the journey to the northern nesting sites in Canada and Siberia.

On Wednesday morning, at 4:45 a.m., ambassadors went to their cars to find 3 to 4 inches of snow covering them. Through blowing, and sometimes blinding snow, the ambassadors made their way to the  Rowe Audubon Sanctuary near Gibbon, about 40 miles west on I-80, again in pre-paid blinds.  Because of the snow and cloudiness, the birds weren’t in a big hurry to leave for the nearby fields for another day of eating.  Several flocks left, followed by other flocks.  However, within ten minutes, the flocks returned and landed.  We suspected the birds couldn’t forage due to the snow.  However, back at the Crane Visitor Center, we learned from a photographer that the reason for the return to the roosting site was that six bald eagles were waiting on the bank to attack.  The flocks came back to try to get the eagles to leave. They were not successful. But by 9 a.m., the birds had mostly dispersed to the nearby fields, but the eagles still remained.

On Monday, March 9, in the afternoon, the ambassadors toured the NET building, viewed the award-winning film Crane Song, and met with the producer, Perry Stoner.  Later, at Lee’s Chicken, the group enjoyed a traditional midwestern dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  They learned more about bird habitats from Larkin Powell, the director of the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska.

On Tuesday, the group stopped at the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island and took a guided tour of the Sandhill Crane art display and the museum. They later drove through the fields where the Sandhill Cranes were foraging after visiting the Crane Trust Visitor Center. Ambassadors checked into a Grand Island hotel and left for the evening viewing at Crane Trust.

After the blind visit, the group visited the Archway, which documents the history and development of the interstate system, proposed by President Eisenhower, across the United States. Later, they visited the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney. On the way back to Lincoln on Thursday, stops were made at the Edgerton Explorit Center in Aurora, where Mary Molliconi presented the history of Dr. Edgerton and Strobe Alley, and at the Mennonite Village in Henderson, where ambassadors enjoyed a traditional Mennonite lunch and tour.

FFL members who made this journey possible were: Julie Albrecht (home host), Phyllis Arth (home host), Milt and Gayle Bayer (home hosts), Midge Dublinske (pre-journey coordinator),  Wendy Horacek (home host assigner), Carol Johnstone-Hornig (home host), Eloise Hiatt (co-coordinator and home host), Judy Keetle (co-coordinator), Pat Novak (Resource Journey Coordinator), Ann Quinlan, Arlene Rea (co-coordinator), and Jan Sibal (home host).