Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon NE --
The weather was quite comfortable this evening and, being in the enclosed blind kept most of the wind and all of the occasional sprinkles of rain from bothering us. It didn't seem to bother the Cranes, either, as they came swooping in by the two's, three's, four's and "more's"!
A group of two or three is generally a life-long mated male and female, with the third individual being last year's "chick". Proper terminology for the threesome is: Roan (male), Mare (female), Colt (last year's chick). If a fourth member is in the group, it is likely a "widowed" male or female that has bonded with the others for companionship or safety. Sandhill Cranes are hunted in every State through which they fly -- except Nebraska! The fact that they are hunted almost everywhere explains why there are a number of "widows" and/or orphans as evidenced by the fairly common sight of a group of four -- or even five.
There were about 15 or 20 people in the group that was led out to the blind by a volunteer. The pathway to the blind was shielded, by trees and underbrush, from the views of the Platte River (and the Cranes' view of us as we made our way along!). The blind was a building about six feet wide and approximately 20 feet long, oriented with the long side parallel with the River. Spaced about three feet apart along the long side were openings, each about 12 inches high and 18 inches wide. The openings alternated between a comfortable eye-height for me, a 6-footer, and a similarly comfortable eye-height for a 5 foot 2 inch woman or child. A step stool was available to accommodate those who were "height-challenged".
The view of the Cranes flying in from their day of feeding in the nearby fields was fascinating! Some of the maneuvers as individuals sought to adjust their airspeed and position in the "landing pattern" were absolutely amazing to Grumpy, an old ex-Navy pilot! I saw several Cranes do double or triple successive roll 180's (90 degree bank to one side followed directly by a 90 degree bank in the opposite direction!). In basic flight training in the Navy, we were taught a maneuver called "S-Turns to the Circle"; these turns are aerodynamically inefficient, thereby allowing rapid loss of altitude to adjust the glide path so as to touch down within a prescribed circle of about 100 feet in diameter (this with an aircraft that had a landing speed of over 50 miles per hour!). In effect, the Cranes were performing a similar maneuver, except they did it much more sharply and rapidly than Grumpy ever did in the "Yellow Peril"!!
The first groups of Cranes to arrive, landed on the opposite side of the River about 1/4 mile distant from our blind. As this far area became quite "solid" with Cranes, the sandbar and open water nearer our blind began to be populated. 
Eventually, it seemed that there was no space for any late arrivals to find a spot on which to land. Yet they continued to come, seeming to drop into an open spot with no apparent contact with adjacent birds.
Why do the Cranes fly into the River at night? Well, it was explained that by their "roosting" on the sandbars or in the water, they would be alerted by the splashing of an approaching predator (coyote, bobcat, mink or whatever) and thus be able to take evasive actions. As the evening wore on (we stayed until nearly nine -- well after dark) the question arose: "How can they hear anything splashing when they are making so much noise!?" The answer, "They get quite a bit quieter as the night gets later", had Grumpy and sister Hazel more than a bit dubious, since the noise had not perceptibly decreased in volume by the time we left the blind!
I took some of the later photos using my camera's ability to manually select a ISO setting of 32oo. As one of the reviews of the camera had said, "The graininess is noticable at the ISO setting of 3200".
A group of two or three is generally a life-long mated male and female, with the third individual being last year's "chick". Proper terminology for the threesome is: Roan (male), Mare (female), Colt (last year's chick). If a fourth member is in the group, it is likely a "widowed" male or female that has bonded with the others for companionship or safety. Sandhill Cranes are hunted in every State through which they fly -- except Nebraska! The fact that they are hunted almost everywhere explains why there are a number of "widows" and/or orphans as evidenced by the fairly common sight of a group of four -- or even five.There were about 15 or 20 people in the group that was led out to the blind by a volunteer. The pathway to the blind was shielded, by trees and underbrush, from the views of the Platte River (and the Cranes' view of us as we made our way along!). The blind was a building about six feet wide and approximately 20 feet long, oriented with the long side parallel with the River. Spaced about three feet apart along the long side were openings, each about 12 inches high and 18 inches wide. The openings alternated between a comfortable eye-height for me, a 6-footer, and a similarly comfortable eye-height for a 5 foot 2 inch woman or child. A step stool was available to accommodate those who were "height-challenged".
The view of the Cranes flying in from their day of feeding in the nearby fields was fascinating! Some of the maneuvers as individuals sought to adjust their airspeed and position in the "landing pattern" were absolutely amazing to Grumpy, an old ex-Navy pilot! I saw several Cranes do double or triple successive roll 180's (90 degree bank to one side followed directly by a 90 degree bank in the opposite direction!). In basic flight training in the Navy, we were taught a maneuver called "S-Turns to the Circle"; these turns are aerodynamically inefficient, thereby allowing rapid loss of altitude to adjust the glide path so as to touch down within a prescribed circle of about 100 feet in diameter (this with an aircraft that had a landing speed of over 50 miles per hour!). In effect, the Cranes were performing a similar maneuver, except they did it much more sharply and rapidly than Grumpy ever did in the "Yellow Peril"!!
The first groups of Cranes to arrive, landed on the opposite side of the River about 1/4 mile distant from our blind. As this far area became quite "solid" with Cranes, the sandbar and open water nearer our blind began to be populated. 
Eventually, it seemed that there was no space for any late arrivals to find a spot on which to land. Yet they continued to come, seeming to drop into an open spot with no apparent contact with adjacent birds.Why do the Cranes fly into the River at night? Well, it was explained that by their "roosting" on the sandbars or in the water, they would be alerted by the splashing of an approaching predator (coyote, bobcat, mink or whatever) and thus be able to take evasive actions. As the evening wore on (we stayed until nearly nine -- well after dark) the question arose: "How can they hear anything splashing when they are making so much noise!?" The answer, "They get quite a bit quieter as the night gets later", had Grumpy and sister Hazel more than a bit dubious, since the noise had not perceptibly decreased in volume by the time we left the blind!
I took some of the later photos using my camera's ability to manually select a ISO setting of 32oo. As one of the reviews of the camera had said, "The graininess is noticable at the ISO setting of 3200".
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