WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319
Hello and welcome to Naturally Scott.
00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:15.359
I'm your host, Scott Harris, and today we're doing what we call a Naturally Scott Adventures, where we uh we do a 20-30 minute podcast uh without a guest, uh, unless you count the animals.
00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.239
And so um it's various trips that I take to places around the country, around the world.
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:24.239
And today I'll be taking you to Nebraska.
00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:50.479
I will grant you Nebraska is not known as a hot spot for uh wildlife uh for mammals or birds, which are the two things that I normally cover, but there is an exception, and it's a huge exception, and that is in March, and that is along the Platte River, because if you go to Nebraska to the Platte River in March, you are going to see sandhill cranes.
00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:55.280
Now, you can see sandhill cranes at a lot of different places around the country, no doubt.
00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:00.560
Um, and you know, I've been fortunate enough to see them in, I don't know, eight or ten different states, I imagine.
00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:05.280
Um, but nothing like what takes place on the plat.
00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.959
There are roughly a million or so sandhill cranes.
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:14.799
Um, estimates vary, but we're just going to call it a million and say that's good, um, that exists.
00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:21.439
And um roughly 80% of those will visit the plat during migration.
00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:25.439
Now, the plat is this amazing bottleneck, if you will.
00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:27.760
It's the pitch point of an hourglass.
00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:36.560
So you've got these birds coming up from the south, and they're heading north, migrating north so that they can breed.
00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:38.319
And they spread out when they're up there.
00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:45.840
I mean, they go up into the boreal forests and uh into Siberia, um, and so they're traveling quite a ways.
00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.480
But they're fascinating birds, and it is a spectacular sight to see.
00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:52.159
They're an ancient bird.
00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:54.480
Uh, fossils are found in Florida.
00:01:54.560 --> 00:02:02.560
Those are the oldest ones, and they are between two and two and a half million years old, long before we were ever here.
00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.239
There were no bipeds.
00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:08.159
Uh, this was uh this was birds, but sandhill cranes were there.
00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:10.319
And they're huge birds.
00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:14.319
Um, if you haven't seen one up close, uh they are massive birds.
00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:30.080
They can get up to about four feet tall, up to oh, eleven pounds for the big ones, seven, eight pounds uh on up to 11 pounds, and a wingspan of over six and a half feet, um, which is just it's an NBA player.
00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.639
That is how big their wingspan is.
00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:40.240
And one of the neat things about sandhill cranes is they look even bigger when they're in flight, because they extend their necks when they're flying.
00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:46.960
They are full out there, unlike let's say a great blue heron, which is a good sized bird, but it tucks its neck when it flies.
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:49.840
So it's really fun to watch sandhill cranes.
00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.159
Um now, we're getting them.
00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.240
This is on their northward migration.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:58.639
They take a little different path going southward, and they're more spread out.
00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.000
So in the fall, we don't get this huge collection.
00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:07.919
Um, but in the spring, we do, and it's in Nebraska and it's on the plat.
00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:15.039
Now, worldwide, there are 15 crane species, uh, which is a really neat deal.
00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.520
And the worldwide expert on cranes is a gentleman named George Archibald.
00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:24.000
Um, he runs the International Crane Foundation in uh Minnesota.
00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:25.919
Fascinating man.
00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.840
I got to spend a few days with him uh this past March in Nebraska.
00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:34.960
He was there uh for the same reason that I was, uh, which is to see the cranes.
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.919
And it was uh really neat.
00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:44.400
Um we would get up in the morning, have breakfast together, have dinner together, maybe go watch the cranes together, and just talk.
00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.400
Not just about cranes, but a lot of things.
00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:52.879
And if you get a chance to visit the International Crane Foundation or to read George's book, uh, take that opportunity.
00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.719
Again, George Archibald International Crane Foundation.
00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:00.080
Now, everyone takes a different approach to seeing these birds.
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:04.159
And um, I'm gonna tell you what mine was uh for regular listeners.
00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:08.719
Some of it won't surprise you because it starts early, which is my favorite thing to do when I'm out there.
00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:15.280
So when you're in Nebraska and it's March, first light is generally around 7:30 in the morning.
00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:18.319
Sunrise is normally around eight o'clock.
00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:20.319
So those are kind of your trigger points.
00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:22.560
That's when the activity begins to start.
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:24.879
I like to arrive around 6 o'clock.
00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:28.160
It's pitch black, and you get there and you settle in.
00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:33.600
If you have an opportunity, there's an Audubon center there, and then there's the Crane Trust.
00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:38.560
And I was fortunate enough to be a guest of uh Bryce Crow and the Crane Trust.
00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:44.079
So that's where I hung out most of the time, was in a variety of their blinds.
00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.120
Um, but you get there, or I get there around six o'clock.
00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:49.360
It's cold in Nebraska in March.
00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.399
You got to dress warm, and you're out looking at the Platte River, which is very shallow.
00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.040
And the cranes like the shallow channels.
00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:58.720
That's what they're looking for.
00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:19.680
Um, they can stand in them, they've got long legs, and they stand in those, and it offers them protection from the coyotes and the bobcats that are patrolling um the banks of the Platte looking for you know injured or sick sandhill cranes or cranes that make a mistake and get too close to shore.
00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:21.759
But in general, they don't.
00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.480
So you get there, it's pitch black.
00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:29.199
Um, the week that I was there, it was a lot of fog, which was really cool.
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.000
You got to watch the fog slowly lift.
00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:40.879
It was a drawback a bit on the photography, um, but it was worth it just because it added kind of a mystical feeling to getting to see these birds.
00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:47.759
Now, unlike snow geese, which, as far as I can tell, are non-stop talkers.
00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:55.199
I mean, 24 hours a day, they're just chattering away and they're loud and and uh and they're congregating at the same time.
00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.319
We'll talk about them a little more later in the podcast.
00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.720
But the sandhill cranes can be quiet.
00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.160
They're quiet during the night.
00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:12.319
But in the morning, as they kind of start to wake up in what humans might call the coffee time, there's some gentle murmuring going on, a little bit of noise.
00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:18.560
Now, this is tied with the fog starting to lift and the sun starting to come out a little bit.
00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:23.279
So there's a lot of stuff going on that you get to that you get to watch.
00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:27.279
You can either, of course, sit and watch it or you can photograph it.
00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:29.279
Um, but either way, it's great.
00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:35.600
And suddenly that murmuring, not suddenly, over a period of minutes or half hour, it it it gets a little louder.
00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.040
Turns it has a bugling quality to it, if you will.
00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.160
Um a little bit like elk.
00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:52.560
And and so you start to get this sound, and it's got a prehistoric sound, which ties very well back with the, you know, them being two and a half million years old.
00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.240
The call that they make is deep and it's resonant.
00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.959
It's a it's a vibratory sound, if you would.
00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:00.879
It can carry for miles.
00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:02.800
Um, it can go a long way.
00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:04.639
It's a it's a huge sound.
00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:10.079
Now, part of that is because a sandhill crane has a windpipe that is extraordinarily long.
00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.759
It actually coils inside the sternum, it's so long.
00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:22.560
And so from that, it generates this deep, powerful, rich, resonant sound, um, and it starts to pick up speed.
00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:29.439
Sandhill cranes are very communal, and so you're looking out on whatever area you've picked.
00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:37.120
Now, sandhill cranes, it's maybe a 10 or 15 mile stretch of the plat where they're settling in for the night.
00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:49.199
So even though there might be, let's say, 500,000 sandhill cranes at one time um uh scattered over that 10 or 15 miles, you're not seeing all of those birds at once.
00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:55.040
So normally you're seeing 50,000, 60,000, 70,000 birds.
00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:01.439
But suddenly these birds are making noise and they're starting to move, they're starting to get active.
00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.279
There's thousands of them, and then tens of thousands.
00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:11.360
And overall, there's hundreds of thousands, but where where you're looking specifically, it's maybe tens of thousands.
00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:13.360
Now they start to do something really cool.
00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:15.199
You got this four-foot-tall bird.
00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:16.959
It's a pretty tall bird, right?
00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:21.279
They start jumping, they just start bouncing like they're on a trampoline.
00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:33.519
They're bouncing up and down, and and they're testing their wings a little bit, and they're spreading their wings, and now the movement looks like a wave, it's just got this this fluid feeling to it.
00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:38.000
Everywhere you look, there are thousands of same little commands jumping.
00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:41.120
They're not taking to the air yet, they're just jumping.
00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:43.840
And it's really, really cool to watch.
00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:56.879
Now, going on around them is you start to see maybe some white-tailed deer come on down to the to the river in the morning, and they're coming down to drink, and there's some young ones and they're playing.
00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:01.120
The biggest group I saw, I think, was nine that were in the river at one time.
00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:05.919
So that was just spectacular to see and uh really, really enjoyable.
00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:11.759
I love watching white tear, white-tailed deer, and you get the bald eagle patrolling the outskirts.
00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:28.720
Now they're looking to flush uh some of these sandhill cranes, and they're looking for one that's old or weak or tired or sick or injured, whatever it is that sets it apart from all the other sandhill cranes, so they can go in and have a huge breakfast.
00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.840
Because these are big birds for a bald eagle to take out.
00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:38.960
An adult bald eagle, you look at it maybe 13 pounds, females are the largest, and that's about where they cap out.
00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:45.840
And so if they're if they're tackling a bird that's nine or ten pounds, that's a big bird for them to go after.
00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:52.879
And then all of a sudden, you'll get this collection of birds, and they start to take to the air in these groups.
00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:58.799
And um, if you've seen my Snow Goose Adventures uh podcast, it's similar to that.
00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:06.320
They don't all take off simultaneously, but they take off in groups and they take to the sky and they decide where they're gonna go.
00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:17.519
And again, they're going out to fields all over, 360 degrees of fields, and over a period of minutes, maybe a half hour, they're up and gone.
00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:22.720
And then suddenly you're left with silence and an ep and an empty river.
00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:24.480
And it's a little bit sad.
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:29.919
On the other hand, it's stunning and beautiful to imagine the birds that were just there.
00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:33.279
It's a great chance to reflect on the birds.
00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:35.919
Now, they're gone all day in the fields.
00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:42.399
There's virtually unlimited food out here in this in the Nebraska farmlands, if you can imagine.
00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:47.440
And so the birds are just gone and they spread out in groups large and small.
00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:56.159
Some of these fields have been have been mowed down and plowed, and so you can see the bird standing there all the way down to its feet.
00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:59.360
Some of them you've still got about three feet of growth.
00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:11.600
So you've got this really neat effect, which is these sandhill cranes, again, let's say four feet tall, walking around in these fields with three feet of um of flora of plants.
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:17.679
And so you're looking at their head and their neck, and their their head's got that red cap on it, which is just great.
00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.159
And they're out there all day just eating.
00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:23.360
And sandhill cranes are opportunistic eaters.
00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:24.720
They are omnivores.
00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:30.720
So they'll eat seeds, they'll eat grains, and that's what they're eating mostly in farm country here in Nebraska.
00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:38.000
But they'll eat berries when they find them, they'll eat insects and frogs, reptiles, even small mammals.
00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:43.840
Whatever they can find that they can swallow where they can get some protein, that's what they're doing.
00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.399
And they're out there all day doing it.
00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.039
Um, and it's really it's fun to watch.
00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.200
And here's a highlight, by the way.
00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:53.840
Sandhill cranes dance.
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:58.080
If you have not seen a sandhill crane dance, you are missing out.
00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:13.759
They are, they bow to each other, they flap their wings, they jump multiple feet into the air, they'll pick up objects and toss them, they'll circle each other and they'll do this, and then they'll turn and do it with somebody else, or maybe even do it alone.
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:18.559
But normally it's in pairs, and it's really a beautiful thing to watch.
00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:24.320
Now, it's primarily for courtship and mating, but not exclusively.
00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:36.080
And so it just seems that they dance for joy, um, that they are just enjoying themselves, that they've got energy and a and a love for life.
00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:39.440
I get that that's anthropomorphism, but I don't care.
00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:44.000
Um, you watch these birds, you cannot help but smile.
00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:53.759
They are beautiful, they're magnificent, they are athletic, they're not what you might call graceful as they're going through this dance, but maybe that's what makes it so much more fun.
00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.039
Now, while I was in Nebraska, I wanted to see prairie chickens on a lek.
00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.759
And there are a couple spots in Nebraska where you can do that.
00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.639
I'd not done that before, so that was going to be a first for me.
00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:13.440
So I went out looking for them one morning, took a morning break from my regular sand hill crane mornings, and went out and looked for these prairie chickens.
00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.559
And when I got to the lek where they were supposed to be, I did not see them.
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:23.039
What I did see was Western Meadowlarks, and they were dancing.
00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:29.279
They were taken to the air and dancing and dropping back down and then going back up and dropping back down.
00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:38.639
And then in this area where I had been told to go for the lek, um, it was an open area, maybe 75 yards from the road, it was open.
00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:42.080
And then at the end of that 75 yards, there were cornfields.
00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.720
Imagine uh the movie Field of Dreams, right?
00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:51.600
You've got the outfield, and then you've got the cornfields, and suddenly these prairie chickens start coming out of the corn, which was really kind of cool.
00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:54.000
And they come out, and now they're dancing.
00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:59.440
And so I'm watching the Western metal arcs dance, I'm watching the prairie chickens dance.
00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:03.039
They're not interacting um species to species.
00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:04.720
They're just with their own.
00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:25.360
And so I watched that for a while, and then I went back and caught the last part of the Sand Hill cranes that morning and their dances, and I'm thinking, what a spectacular thing, uh, watching these three different species of birds all dance as part of their life, as part of their joy, as part of their mating.
00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:29.679
And I'm thinking, that's not that much different than a high school dance, right?
00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:32.000
I mean, that's that's what you go for.
00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:38.399
You go to dance and show off a little bit and and uh either take your girlfriend or maybe make one there.
00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:44.480
And um I was sitting in the car watching some of this and just laughing at the similarities.
00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:50.080
And by the way, when I talk about how awkward some of the sandhill cranes look, that was me in high school.
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.120
I did not impress anybody with my dancing.
00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:58.399
Um, now, when they do mate, sandhill cranes are said to mate for life.
00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:06.000
Now, of course, that's uh that's an interesting term that we throw around quite a bit when we talk about birds because they don't all live the same time.
00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:11.200
You know, you might have a 12-year-old sandhill crane connecting with a seven-year-old sandhill crane.
00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.360
They're not going to pass away in the same year.
00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:15.360
So there's turnover.
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.240
One of them loses a mate and it goes and gets another mate.
00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:22.639
But what you're really talking about is sandhill cranes have some mate fidelity.
00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:27.440
Um, all things being equal, they will stay with the mate uh that they have.
00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:37.200
And it has been chronicled that this can sometimes last 20 years, uh, which is amazing that these birds are able to do that.
00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:39.279
And um, you watch these birds.
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:47.679
Of course, it's hard to tell who the pairs are when you're looking, let's say, 30, 40, 50,000 birds in a shallow river, um, but it's pretty neat.
00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:58.720
And if you get a chance, and this isn't the time in March, but if you get a chance at another point in your in your birding career, your naturalist career, baby cranes are called colts.
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:06.320
And they have an extraordinarily long uh set of legs compared to their body when they're young.
00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:11.600
And it's really, they're just funny to watch as they as they move around.
00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.559
Maybe that's why they're called colts, because of those long legs.
00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:16.960
Now I mentioned excuse me.
00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:19.360
I mentioned snow geese.
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:26.080
So if you're in Nebraska in March, you are only 250 miles from a place called Les Bluffs.
00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:32.559
And Les Bluffs is in Missouri, and that is the snow geese capital of the world.
00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:38.799
Roughly a million snow geese gather um in Les Bluffs.
00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:42.960
And I was there, I went there for the week before I went to see the Sand Hill Cranes.
00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:44.080
So I got to see these birds.
00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.679
One of the amazing things was I got to see snow geese in the snow.
00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:54.879
One morning when I was there by myself, which I still find amazing, that you could actually be by yourself at something that spectacular.
00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:05.519
A gathering of a million birds, all of them vocal, all of them squawking and talking and flying off and bald eagles and coyotes hunting them, and it's just an amazing thing to watch.
00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.720
And you can actually literally be the only person there watching it.
00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:13.599
Um, there's uh a previous podcast on snow geese, if you look it up and watch it.
00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:15.200
Um, I think it's well worth it.
00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:23.359
And if you can budget the time, it's about uh 250-mile drive to get out there and see that.
00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:35.599
And for those of you that know her, um, either because you took her pelagic trips with her uh or because you saw the movie The Big Year, where she was portrayed by Angelica Houston, or you just happen to know Debbie Shearwater.
00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:44.079
Uh Debbie and I have talked about um the Sandy Hill Cranes before, and she tries to get out there as often as she can, and she describes it as soul-enriching.
00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.559
And I think that's a pretty fair way to put it.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.759
It is a it is a truly remarkable thing to see.
00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:56.720
Now, you've you've washed them in the morning, you've watched them in the day, and you know, you can just chase them around at the different fields, they're all over.
00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:02.240
Um, they're habituated to humans, so if you pull the car off the side of the road, they don't take off.
00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:05.839
Uh, they're just eating and munching and having a good time, dancing.
00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.759
But now you come back to the river as the sun starts to go down.
00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.480
You pick your spot, um, wherever that might be.
00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:20.079
And there are spots that are available to the public, there are spots that are private, um, but you can find a great spot for free for the public.
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:27.599
Um, so you can just look that up on eBird and get out there and find out where they've been uh the last few days before you get there.
00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:33.759
But when you do get back there, you settle in, you get your camera going, you're watching.
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:35.920
Again, it's like in the morning when you left.
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.240
There's not a single sandhill crane to be seen.
00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:39.440
Or uh not one.
00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:48.079
And and then suddenly you'll see small groups of them come in and they circle overhead, and then for whatever reason they say, no, this isn't the spot where I'm gonna stay tonight.
00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:50.240
And they go and they fly off somewhere else.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:55.440
And then another group comes in and they circle around and they say, you know what, this looks pretty good to me.
00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:01.119
And so they drop down into the river, and now they are the attractant to other sandhill cranes.
00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:02.640
I call them scouts.
00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:11.440
I don't know that that's actually true or if they're just the early birds, um, but they are the first ones that settle in, and when they do, others start.
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:18.720
And then pretty soon, that old line about uh uh nothing, nothing creates a crowd more than a large group of people.
00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:22.240
Um, as you get more sandhill cranes, it just leads to more.
00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.039
And then pretty soon they're just raining out of the sky.
00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:26.319
They're just dropping down.
00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:30.480
But it's not like the bats, like we did a podcast on Mexican freetailed bats.
00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:33.039
These are tiny little half-ounce birds.
00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:39.119
Sandhill cranes are eight, nine, ten, eleven-pound birds, and they're just dropping down into the river.
00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:44.240
And they land in the river, takes them a little bit to land, and they land and they settle in, and now they're talking.
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:45.200
And you can hear them.
00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:46.079
How was your day?
00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:46.960
Did you do okay?
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:47.519
Oh, really?
00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:48.240
You got a mouse?
00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:48.720
That's great.
00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:50.799
That's got to be a welcome break from the seeds.
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.039
Everybody good, you guys have a nice dance?
00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:54.160
You know, what's going on?
00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:55.039
How's Martha?
00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:56.000
How are the kids?
00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:02.000
And they're just chattering away, and then more and more of them are coming and they're trying to settle into their position.
00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.359
Where are they going to be?
00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:16.079
The center is obviously the safest, um, as it is with any group, um, whether it's wildebeest in the savannah or snow geese off in Missouri, um, it's the fringes where you run the risk of an attack.
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:23.599
Generally, if you're healthy and you're in the center of one of these collections, these mass collections of animals, you're going to be safe that night.
00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:24.640
So they want that.
00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:27.680
And then they're moving around and checking things out.
00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:34.400
They're maybe moving upstream or downstream a little bit and they're kind of flowing as a group, and more and more of them are coming.
00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:41.519
It's about an hour from the time the first one drops until the last one drops, and they settle in and they're having their conversations.
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:48.559
And then pretty soon it starts to quiet down a little bit, and um, and then suddenly it's pitch black.
00:20:48.720 --> 00:21:02.640
And because uh when you're in the blinds or anywhere where you're watching the sandhill cranes, it is strongly recommended, suggested, even enforced by dirty looks and and quiet comments.
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:12.880
No conversations and no lights, no flash photography, no cell phones, don't answer your cell phone, don't talk, because the birds are skittish and we don't want to bother them.
00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:17.039
And so when darkness falls, it falls, it's dark.
00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:21.039
And uh the the few nights I was there, people respected that.
00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:29.200
Um, there would be tiny whispered conversations, but if you couldn't hear it from five feet away, the birds couldn't hear it from 75 feet away.
00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:33.920
And so it just it just gets dark naturally.
00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:38.640
Uh some of us hang around after dark just to listen, because now we're backing up, right?
00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:46.559
We're going from the huge sound, it's getting smaller and smaller, and it's dropping down to the murmur, which is the first thing we hear in the morning.
00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:48.720
And then eventually there's nothing.
00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:50.160
There's nothing.
00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:55.519
It's so dark you can't see the birds, and now they're no longer making noise, so you can't hear the birds.
00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:58.319
So you know there's tens of thousands of birds out there.
00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:59.759
Now, it might be a little noisy.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.759
Because sometimes the snow geese um aren't in Les Bluffs.
00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:04.720
They are here.
00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:08.079
So they they'll mix in uh with the sandhill cranes.
00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:09.119
Not always, but sometimes.
00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:10.880
So if they're there, they're noisy.
00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:13.599
But if they're not, you've got virtually complete silence.
00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:19.359
As a matter of fact, the last night I was there, it was a smaller group, about it was estimated maybe 20,000.
00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:25.279
I was there with only one other person, but they had a few years' experience, so I took their estimate as gospel.
00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.119
And there were no snowgies.
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:29.599
And so when it got quiet, it was quiet.
00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:37.359
And then all of a sudden, um, from what felt like five feet away, but certainly it wasn't, there was a lone coyote that howled.
00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:42.400
And it did not generate a reaction in sound anyway from the sandhill cranes.
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.519
But it was pitch black, it was cold, it was the two of us.
00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.480
We hadn't spoken since we got in the blind.
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:49.839
We really did respect that.
00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:55.839
And then all of a sudden there was this coyote that just let out this howl.
00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:57.359
And it was just magnificent.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:00.799
It was a it was my last night there, so it was a great thing to see.
00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:06.400
And so I reached over and tapped the guy on the shoulder that I was with, and we agreed, let's go out.
00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:16.640
So we did, we backed out, and then um we got probably 50 yards away, 75 yards away from the blind before we turned on our cell phones, give ourselves some light, and get back to the truck.
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:18.720
And it was a spectacular way to end it.
00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:27.279
So I'm strongly recommending that if you get a chance to go to the Platte River in Nebraska in March, you will never regret it.
00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:34.799
You will see things that not a lot of people get to see, and um, and none of them who do ever forget it.
00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:38.000
Thank you so much for listening uh to Naturally Scott.
00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:42.400
I'm gonna throw my email up here now, which is Scott at naturaliscott.com.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:46.160
If you've got some comments or a question, please send it in.
00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:47.119
I love to answer them.
00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:48.400
I answer every single one.
00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.160
I look forward to receiving them.
00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:55.759
And if you're watching us on YouTube, please hit subscribe if you haven't done so already.
00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:59.680
Every time we do one of these podcasts, we get a handful of more people who subscribe.
00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:03.920
And every time that happens, YouTube pushes it out uh to more people.
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:11.279
And so they learn about either our guests or sandhill cranes or whatever it might be, and we're excited about that.
00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.599
Uh we don't sell ads on the show.
00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.920
Uh we're just doing it, it's a hobby, it's fun.
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:19.119
We're grateful for the guests and grateful for the animals we see.
00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:24.720
And if you're there and you want to drop a comment or hit like, that helps with distribution as well.
00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:29.759
And as I say at the end of every show and every chance you get, get outside.
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:33.680
Things happen when you're outside, and it's just thrilling to see.
00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.000
Um, you never know what you're gonna stumble upon.
00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:44.799
And outside, front porch, backyard, local park, state park, national park, whatever it might be, but you're bound to see something.
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:47.759
And often you're gonna see something you've never seen before.
00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:52.480
And when you do get outside, make sure that you stay safe and stay curious.
00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:54.000
I'm Scott Harris.
00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:56.640
I'm thrilled that you took the time to watch this show.
00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:58.640
I hope you come back and watch us again.
00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:01.039
If you've got thoughts on it, send me a note.
00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:02.319
Have a great day.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:03.759
Thank you very much.
00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:08.160
This has been a Naturally Scott Adventures podcast with Scott Harris.
00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:15.200
Naturally Scott Adventures is hosted by Scott Harris, produced by Justin Harris, and edited by Frank Sierra.
00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:21.599
Follow us on our YouTube channel at Naturally Scott and Instagram at Naturally Scott Harris.
00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:29.039
If this conversation resonated with you, please follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.
00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:34.240
Naturally Scott Adventures thanks you for viewing and listening to this podcast.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319
Hello and welcome to Naturally Scott.
00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:15.359
I'm your host, Scott Harris, and today we're doing what we call a Naturally Scott Adventures, where we uh we do a 20-30 minute podcast uh without a guest, uh, unless you count the animals.
00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.239
And so um it's various trips that I take to places around the country, around the world.
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:24.239
And today I'll be taking you to Nebraska.
00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:50.479
I will grant you Nebraska is not known as a hot spot for uh wildlife uh for mammals or birds, which are the two things that I normally cover, but there is an exception, and it's a huge exception, and that is in March, and that is along the Platte River, because if you go to Nebraska to the Platte River in March, you are going to see sandhill cranes.
00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:55.280
Now, you can see sandhill cranes at a lot of different places around the country, no doubt.
00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:00.560
Um, and you know, I've been fortunate enough to see them in, I don't know, eight or ten different states, I imagine.
00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:05.280
Um, but nothing like what takes place on the plat.
00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.959
There are roughly a million or so sandhill cranes.
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:14.799
Um, estimates vary, but we're just going to call it a million and say that's good, um, that exists.
00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:21.439
And um roughly 80% of those will visit the plat during migration.
00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:25.439
Now, the plat is this amazing bottleneck, if you will.
00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:27.760
It's the pitch point of an hourglass.
00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:36.560
So you've got these birds coming up from the south, and they're heading north, migrating north so that they can breed.
00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:38.319
And they spread out when they're up there.
00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:45.840
I mean, they go up into the boreal forests and uh into Siberia, um, and so they're traveling quite a ways.
00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.480
But they're fascinating birds, and it is a spectacular sight to see.
00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:52.159
They're an ancient bird.
00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:54.480
Uh, fossils are found in Florida.
00:01:54.560 --> 00:02:02.560
Those are the oldest ones, and they are between two and two and a half million years old, long before we were ever here.
00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.239
There were no bipeds.
00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:08.159
Uh, this was uh this was birds, but sandhill cranes were there.
00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:10.319
And they're huge birds.
00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:14.319
Um, if you haven't seen one up close, uh they are massive birds.
00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:30.080
They can get up to about four feet tall, up to oh, eleven pounds for the big ones, seven, eight pounds uh on up to 11 pounds, and a wingspan of over six and a half feet, um, which is just it's an NBA player.
00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.639
That is how big their wingspan is.
00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:40.240
And one of the neat things about sandhill cranes is they look even bigger when they're in flight, because they extend their necks when they're flying.
00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:46.960
They are full out there, unlike let's say a great blue heron, which is a good sized bird, but it tucks its neck when it flies.
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:49.840
So it's really fun to watch sandhill cranes.
00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.159
Um now, we're getting them.
00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.240
This is on their northward migration.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:58.639
They take a little different path going southward, and they're more spread out.
00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.000
So in the fall, we don't get this huge collection.
00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:07.919
Um, but in the spring, we do, and it's in Nebraska and it's on the plat.
00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:15.039
Now, worldwide, there are 15 crane species, uh, which is a really neat deal.
00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.520
And the worldwide expert on cranes is a gentleman named George Archibald.
00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:24.000
Um, he runs the International Crane Foundation in uh Minnesota.
00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:25.919
Fascinating man.
00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.840
I got to spend a few days with him uh this past March in Nebraska.
00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:34.960
He was there uh for the same reason that I was, uh, which is to see the cranes.
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.919
And it was uh really neat.
00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:44.400
Um we would get up in the morning, have breakfast together, have dinner together, maybe go watch the cranes together, and just talk.
00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.400
Not just about cranes, but a lot of things.
00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:52.879
And if you get a chance to visit the International Crane Foundation or to read George's book, uh, take that opportunity.
00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.719
Again, George Archibald International Crane Foundation.
00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:00.080
Now, everyone takes a different approach to seeing these birds.
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:04.159
And um, I'm gonna tell you what mine was uh for regular listeners.
00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:08.719
Some of it won't surprise you because it starts early, which is my favorite thing to do when I'm out there.
00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:15.280
So when you're in Nebraska and it's March, first light is generally around 7:30 in the morning.
00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:18.319
Sunrise is normally around eight o'clock.
00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:20.319
So those are kind of your trigger points.
00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:22.560
That's when the activity begins to start.
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:24.879
I like to arrive around 6 o'clock.
00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:28.160
It's pitch black, and you get there and you settle in.
00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:33.600
If you have an opportunity, there's an Audubon center there, and then there's the Crane Trust.
00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:38.560
And I was fortunate enough to be a guest of uh Bryce Crow and the Crane Trust.
00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:44.079
So that's where I hung out most of the time, was in a variety of their blinds.
00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.120
Um, but you get there, or I get there around six o'clock.
00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:49.360
It's cold in Nebraska in March.
00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.399
You got to dress warm, and you're out looking at the Platte River, which is very shallow.
00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.040
And the cranes like the shallow channels.
00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:58.720
That's what they're looking for.
00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:19.680
Um, they can stand in them, they've got long legs, and they stand in those, and it offers them protection from the coyotes and the bobcats that are patrolling um the banks of the Platte looking for you know injured or sick sandhill cranes or cranes that make a mistake and get too close to shore.
00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:21.759
But in general, they don't.
00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.480
So you get there, it's pitch black.
00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:29.199
Um, the week that I was there, it was a lot of fog, which was really cool.
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.000
You got to watch the fog slowly lift.
00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:40.879
It was a drawback a bit on the photography, um, but it was worth it just because it added kind of a mystical feeling to getting to see these birds.
00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:47.759
Now, unlike snow geese, which, as far as I can tell, are non-stop talkers.
00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:55.199
I mean, 24 hours a day, they're just chattering away and they're loud and and uh and they're congregating at the same time.
00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.319
We'll talk about them a little more later in the podcast.
00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.720
But the sandhill cranes can be quiet.
00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.160
They're quiet during the night.
00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:12.319
But in the morning, as they kind of start to wake up in what humans might call the coffee time, there's some gentle murmuring going on, a little bit of noise.
00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:18.560
Now, this is tied with the fog starting to lift and the sun starting to come out a little bit.
00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:23.279
So there's a lot of stuff going on that you get to that you get to watch.
00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:27.279
You can either, of course, sit and watch it or you can photograph it.
00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:29.279
Um, but either way, it's great.
00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:35.600
And suddenly that murmuring, not suddenly, over a period of minutes or half hour, it it it gets a little louder.
00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.040
Turns it has a bugling quality to it, if you will.
00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.160
Um a little bit like elk.
00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:52.560
And and so you start to get this sound, and it's got a prehistoric sound, which ties very well back with the, you know, them being two and a half million years old.
00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.240
The call that they make is deep and it's resonant.
00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.959
It's a it's a vibratory sound, if you would.
00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:00.879
It can carry for miles.
00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:02.800
Um, it can go a long way.
00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:04.639
It's a it's a huge sound.
00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:10.079
Now, part of that is because a sandhill crane has a windpipe that is extraordinarily long.
00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.759
It actually coils inside the sternum, it's so long.
00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:22.560
And so from that, it generates this deep, powerful, rich, resonant sound, um, and it starts to pick up speed.
00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:29.439
Sandhill cranes are very communal, and so you're looking out on whatever area you've picked.
00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:37.120
Now, sandhill cranes, it's maybe a 10 or 15 mile stretch of the plat where they're settling in for the night.
00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:49.199
So even though there might be, let's say, 500,000 sandhill cranes at one time um uh scattered over that 10 or 15 miles, you're not seeing all of those birds at once.
00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:55.040
So normally you're seeing 50,000, 60,000, 70,000 birds.
00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:01.439
But suddenly these birds are making noise and they're starting to move, they're starting to get active.
00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.279
There's thousands of them, and then tens of thousands.
00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:11.360
And overall, there's hundreds of thousands, but where where you're looking specifically, it's maybe tens of thousands.
00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:13.360
Now they start to do something really cool.
00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:15.199
You got this four-foot-tall bird.
00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:16.959
It's a pretty tall bird, right?
00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:21.279
They start jumping, they just start bouncing like they're on a trampoline.
00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:33.519
They're bouncing up and down, and and they're testing their wings a little bit, and they're spreading their wings, and now the movement looks like a wave, it's just got this this fluid feeling to it.
00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:38.000
Everywhere you look, there are thousands of same little commands jumping.
00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:41.120
They're not taking to the air yet, they're just jumping.
00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:43.840
And it's really, really cool to watch.
00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:56.879
Now, going on around them is you start to see maybe some white-tailed deer come on down to the to the river in the morning, and they're coming down to drink, and there's some young ones and they're playing.
00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:01.120
The biggest group I saw, I think, was nine that were in the river at one time.
00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:05.919
So that was just spectacular to see and uh really, really enjoyable.
00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:11.759
I love watching white tear, white-tailed deer, and you get the bald eagle patrolling the outskirts.
00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:28.720
Now they're looking to flush uh some of these sandhill cranes, and they're looking for one that's old or weak or tired or sick or injured, whatever it is that sets it apart from all the other sandhill cranes, so they can go in and have a huge breakfast.
00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.840
Because these are big birds for a bald eagle to take out.
00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:38.960
An adult bald eagle, you look at it maybe 13 pounds, females are the largest, and that's about where they cap out.
00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:45.840
And so if they're if they're tackling a bird that's nine or ten pounds, that's a big bird for them to go after.
00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:52.879
And then all of a sudden, you'll get this collection of birds, and they start to take to the air in these groups.
00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:58.799
And um, if you've seen my Snow Goose Adventures uh podcast, it's similar to that.
00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:06.320
They don't all take off simultaneously, but they take off in groups and they take to the sky and they decide where they're gonna go.
00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:17.519
And again, they're going out to fields all over, 360 degrees of fields, and over a period of minutes, maybe a half hour, they're up and gone.
00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:22.720
And then suddenly you're left with silence and an ep and an empty river.
00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:24.480
And it's a little bit sad.
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:29.919
On the other hand, it's stunning and beautiful to imagine the birds that were just there.
00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:33.279
It's a great chance to reflect on the birds.
00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:35.919
Now, they're gone all day in the fields.
00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:42.399
There's virtually unlimited food out here in this in the Nebraska farmlands, if you can imagine.
00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:47.440
And so the birds are just gone and they spread out in groups large and small.
00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:56.159
Some of these fields have been have been mowed down and plowed, and so you can see the bird standing there all the way down to its feet.
00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:59.360
Some of them you've still got about three feet of growth.
00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:11.600
So you've got this really neat effect, which is these sandhill cranes, again, let's say four feet tall, walking around in these fields with three feet of um of flora of plants.
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:17.679
And so you're looking at their head and their neck, and their their head's got that red cap on it, which is just great.
00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.159
And they're out there all day just eating.
00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:23.360
And sandhill cranes are opportunistic eaters.
00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:24.720
They are omnivores.
00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:30.720
So they'll eat seeds, they'll eat grains, and that's what they're eating mostly in farm country here in Nebraska.
00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:38.000
But they'll eat berries when they find them, they'll eat insects and frogs, reptiles, even small mammals.
00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:43.840
Whatever they can find that they can swallow where they can get some protein, that's what they're doing.
00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.399
And they're out there all day doing it.
00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.039
Um, and it's really it's fun to watch.
00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.200
And here's a highlight, by the way.
00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:53.840
Sandhill cranes dance.
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:58.080
If you have not seen a sandhill crane dance, you are missing out.
00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:13.759
They are, they bow to each other, they flap their wings, they jump multiple feet into the air, they'll pick up objects and toss them, they'll circle each other and they'll do this, and then they'll turn and do it with somebody else, or maybe even do it alone.
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:18.559
But normally it's in pairs, and it's really a beautiful thing to watch.
00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:24.320
Now, it's primarily for courtship and mating, but not exclusively.
00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:36.080
And so it just seems that they dance for joy, um, that they are just enjoying themselves, that they've got energy and a and a love for life.
00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:39.440
I get that that's anthropomorphism, but I don't care.
00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:44.000
Um, you watch these birds, you cannot help but smile.
00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:53.759
They are beautiful, they're magnificent, they are athletic, they're not what you might call graceful as they're going through this dance, but maybe that's what makes it so much more fun.
00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.039
Now, while I was in Nebraska, I wanted to see prairie chickens on a lek.
00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.759
And there are a couple spots in Nebraska where you can do that.
00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.639
I'd not done that before, so that was going to be a first for me.
00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:13.440
So I went out looking for them one morning, took a morning break from my regular sand hill crane mornings, and went out and looked for these prairie chickens.
00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.559
And when I got to the lek where they were supposed to be, I did not see them.
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:23.039
What I did see was Western Meadowlarks, and they were dancing.
00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:29.279
They were taken to the air and dancing and dropping back down and then going back up and dropping back down.
00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:38.639
And then in this area where I had been told to go for the lek, um, it was an open area, maybe 75 yards from the road, it was open.
00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:42.080
And then at the end of that 75 yards, there were cornfields.
00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.720
Imagine uh the movie Field of Dreams, right?
00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:51.600
You've got the outfield, and then you've got the cornfields, and suddenly these prairie chickens start coming out of the corn, which was really kind of cool.
00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:54.000
And they come out, and now they're dancing.
00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:59.440
And so I'm watching the Western metal arcs dance, I'm watching the prairie chickens dance.
00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:03.039
They're not interacting um species to species.
00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:04.720
They're just with their own.
00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:25.360
And so I watched that for a while, and then I went back and caught the last part of the Sand Hill cranes that morning and their dances, and I'm thinking, what a spectacular thing, uh, watching these three different species of birds all dance as part of their life, as part of their joy, as part of their mating.
00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:29.679
And I'm thinking, that's not that much different than a high school dance, right?
00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:32.000
I mean, that's that's what you go for.
00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:38.399
You go to dance and show off a little bit and and uh either take your girlfriend or maybe make one there.
00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:44.480
And um I was sitting in the car watching some of this and just laughing at the similarities.
00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:50.080
And by the way, when I talk about how awkward some of the sandhill cranes look, that was me in high school.
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.120
I did not impress anybody with my dancing.
00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:58.399
Um, now, when they do mate, sandhill cranes are said to mate for life.
00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:06.000
Now, of course, that's uh that's an interesting term that we throw around quite a bit when we talk about birds because they don't all live the same time.
00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:11.200
You know, you might have a 12-year-old sandhill crane connecting with a seven-year-old sandhill crane.
00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.360
They're not going to pass away in the same year.
00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:15.360
So there's turnover.
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.240
One of them loses a mate and it goes and gets another mate.
00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:22.639
But what you're really talking about is sandhill cranes have some mate fidelity.
00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:27.440
Um, all things being equal, they will stay with the mate uh that they have.
00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:37.200
And it has been chronicled that this can sometimes last 20 years, uh, which is amazing that these birds are able to do that.
00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:39.279
And um, you watch these birds.
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:47.679
Of course, it's hard to tell who the pairs are when you're looking, let's say, 30, 40, 50,000 birds in a shallow river, um, but it's pretty neat.
00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:58.720
And if you get a chance, and this isn't the time in March, but if you get a chance at another point in your in your birding career, your naturalist career, baby cranes are called colts.
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:06.320
And they have an extraordinarily long uh set of legs compared to their body when they're young.
00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:11.600
And it's really, they're just funny to watch as they as they move around.
00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.559
Maybe that's why they're called colts, because of those long legs.
00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:16.960
Now I mentioned excuse me.
00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:19.360
I mentioned snow geese.
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:26.080
So if you're in Nebraska in March, you are only 250 miles from a place called Les Bluffs.
00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:32.559
And Les Bluffs is in Missouri, and that is the snow geese capital of the world.
00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:38.799
Roughly a million snow geese gather um in Les Bluffs.
00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:42.960
And I was there, I went there for the week before I went to see the Sand Hill Cranes.
00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:44.080
So I got to see these birds.
00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.679
One of the amazing things was I got to see snow geese in the snow.
00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:54.879
One morning when I was there by myself, which I still find amazing, that you could actually be by yourself at something that spectacular.
00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:05.519
A gathering of a million birds, all of them vocal, all of them squawking and talking and flying off and bald eagles and coyotes hunting them, and it's just an amazing thing to watch.
00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.720
And you can actually literally be the only person there watching it.
00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:13.599
Um, there's uh a previous podcast on snow geese, if you look it up and watch it.
00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:15.200
Um, I think it's well worth it.
00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:23.359
And if you can budget the time, it's about uh 250-mile drive to get out there and see that.
00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:35.599
And for those of you that know her, um, either because you took her pelagic trips with her uh or because you saw the movie The Big Year, where she was portrayed by Angelica Houston, or you just happen to know Debbie Shearwater.
00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:44.079
Uh Debbie and I have talked about um the Sandy Hill Cranes before, and she tries to get out there as often as she can, and she describes it as soul-enriching.
00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.559
And I think that's a pretty fair way to put it.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.759
It is a it is a truly remarkable thing to see.
00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:56.720
Now, you've you've washed them in the morning, you've watched them in the day, and you know, you can just chase them around at the different fields, they're all over.
00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:02.240
Um, they're habituated to humans, so if you pull the car off the side of the road, they don't take off.
00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:05.839
Uh, they're just eating and munching and having a good time, dancing.
00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.759
But now you come back to the river as the sun starts to go down.
00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.480
You pick your spot, um, wherever that might be.
00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:20.079
And there are spots that are available to the public, there are spots that are private, um, but you can find a great spot for free for the public.
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:27.599
Um, so you can just look that up on eBird and get out there and find out where they've been uh the last few days before you get there.
00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:33.759
But when you do get back there, you settle in, you get your camera going, you're watching.
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:35.920
Again, it's like in the morning when you left.
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.240
There's not a single sandhill crane to be seen.
00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:39.440
Or uh not one.
00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:48.079
And and then suddenly you'll see small groups of them come in and they circle overhead, and then for whatever reason they say, no, this isn't the spot where I'm gonna stay tonight.
00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:50.240
And they go and they fly off somewhere else.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:55.440
And then another group comes in and they circle around and they say, you know what, this looks pretty good to me.
00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:01.119
And so they drop down into the river, and now they are the attractant to other sandhill cranes.
00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:02.640
I call them scouts.
00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:11.440
I don't know that that's actually true or if they're just the early birds, um, but they are the first ones that settle in, and when they do, others start.
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:18.720
And then pretty soon, that old line about uh uh nothing, nothing creates a crowd more than a large group of people.
00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:22.240
Um, as you get more sandhill cranes, it just leads to more.
00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.039
And then pretty soon they're just raining out of the sky.
00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:26.319
They're just dropping down.
00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:30.480
But it's not like the bats, like we did a podcast on Mexican freetailed bats.
00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:33.039
These are tiny little half-ounce birds.
00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:39.119
Sandhill cranes are eight, nine, ten, eleven-pound birds, and they're just dropping down into the river.
00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:44.240
And they land in the river, takes them a little bit to land, and they land and they settle in, and now they're talking.
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:45.200
And you can hear them.
00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:46.079
How was your day?
00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:46.960
Did you do okay?
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:47.519
Oh, really?
00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:48.240
You got a mouse?
00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:48.720
That's great.
00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:50.799
That's got to be a welcome break from the seeds.
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.039
Everybody good, you guys have a nice dance?
00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:54.160
You know, what's going on?
00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:55.039
How's Martha?
00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:56.000
How are the kids?
00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:02.000
And they're just chattering away, and then more and more of them are coming and they're trying to settle into their position.
00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.359
Where are they going to be?
00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:16.079
The center is obviously the safest, um, as it is with any group, um, whether it's wildebeest in the savannah or snow geese off in Missouri, um, it's the fringes where you run the risk of an attack.
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:23.599
Generally, if you're healthy and you're in the center of one of these collections, these mass collections of animals, you're going to be safe that night.
00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:24.640
So they want that.
00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:27.680
And then they're moving around and checking things out.
00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:34.400
They're maybe moving upstream or downstream a little bit and they're kind of flowing as a group, and more and more of them are coming.
00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:41.519
It's about an hour from the time the first one drops until the last one drops, and they settle in and they're having their conversations.
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:48.559
And then pretty soon it starts to quiet down a little bit, and um, and then suddenly it's pitch black.
00:20:48.720 --> 00:21:02.640
And because uh when you're in the blinds or anywhere where you're watching the sandhill cranes, it is strongly recommended, suggested, even enforced by dirty looks and and quiet comments.
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:12.880
No conversations and no lights, no flash photography, no cell phones, don't answer your cell phone, don't talk, because the birds are skittish and we don't want to bother them.
00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:17.039
And so when darkness falls, it falls, it's dark.
00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:21.039
And uh the the few nights I was there, people respected that.
00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:29.200
Um, there would be tiny whispered conversations, but if you couldn't hear it from five feet away, the birds couldn't hear it from 75 feet away.
00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:33.920
And so it just it just gets dark naturally.
00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:38.640
Uh some of us hang around after dark just to listen, because now we're backing up, right?
00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:46.559
We're going from the huge sound, it's getting smaller and smaller, and it's dropping down to the murmur, which is the first thing we hear in the morning.
00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:48.720
And then eventually there's nothing.
00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:50.160
There's nothing.
00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:55.519
It's so dark you can't see the birds, and now they're no longer making noise, so you can't hear the birds.
00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:58.319
So you know there's tens of thousands of birds out there.
00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:59.759
Now, it might be a little noisy.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.759
Because sometimes the snow geese um aren't in Les Bluffs.
00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:04.720
They are here.
00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:08.079
So they they'll mix in uh with the sandhill cranes.
00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:09.119
Not always, but sometimes.
00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:10.880
So if they're there, they're noisy.
00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:13.599
But if they're not, you've got virtually complete silence.
00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:19.359
As a matter of fact, the last night I was there, it was a smaller group, about it was estimated maybe 20,000.
00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:25.279
I was there with only one other person, but they had a few years' experience, so I took their estimate as gospel.
00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.119
And there were no snowgies.
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:29.599
And so when it got quiet, it was quiet.
00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:37.359
And then all of a sudden, um, from what felt like five feet away, but certainly it wasn't, there was a lone coyote that howled.
00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:42.400
And it did not generate a reaction in sound anyway from the sandhill cranes.
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.519
But it was pitch black, it was cold, it was the two of us.
00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.480
We hadn't spoken since we got in the blind.
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:49.839
We really did respect that.
00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:55.839
And then all of a sudden there was this coyote that just let out this howl.
00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:57.359
And it was just magnificent.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:00.799
It was a it was my last night there, so it was a great thing to see.
00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:06.400
And so I reached over and tapped the guy on the shoulder that I was with, and we agreed, let's go out.
00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:16.640
So we did, we backed out, and then um we got probably 50 yards away, 75 yards away from the blind before we turned on our cell phones, give ourselves some light, and get back to the truck.
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:18.720
And it was a spectacular way to end it.
00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:27.279
So I'm strongly recommending that if you get a chance to go to the Platte River in Nebraska in March, you will never regret it.
00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:34.799
You will see things that not a lot of people get to see, and um, and none of them who do ever forget it.
00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:38.000
Thank you so much for listening uh to Naturally Scott.
00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:42.400
I'm gonna throw my email up here now, which is Scott at naturaliscott.com.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:46.160
If you've got some comments or a question, please send it in.
00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:47.119
I love to answer them.
00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:48.400
I answer every single one.
00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.160
I look forward to receiving them.
00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:55.759
And if you're watching us on YouTube, please hit subscribe if you haven't done so already.
00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:59.680
Every time we do one of these podcasts, we get a handful of more people who subscribe.
00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:03.920
And every time that happens, YouTube pushes it out uh to more people.
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:11.279
And so they learn about either our guests or sandhill cranes or whatever it might be, and we're excited about that.
00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.599
Uh we don't sell ads on the show.
00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.920
Uh we're just doing it, it's a hobby, it's fun.
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:19.119
We're grateful for the guests and grateful for the animals we see.
00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:24.720
And if you're there and you want to drop a comment or hit like, that helps with distribution as well.
00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:29.759
And as I say at the end of every show and every chance you get, get outside.
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:33.680
Things happen when you're outside, and it's just thrilling to see.
00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.000
Um, you never know what you're gonna stumble upon.
00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:44.799
And outside, front porch, backyard, local park, state park, national park, whatever it might be, but you're bound to see something.
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:47.759
And often you're gonna see something you've never seen before.
00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:52.480
And when you do get outside, make sure that you stay safe and stay curious.
00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:54.000
I'm Scott Harris.
00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:56.640
I'm thrilled that you took the time to watch this show.
00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:58.640
I hope you come back and watch us again.
00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:01.039
If you've got thoughts on it, send me a note.
00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:02.319
Have a great day.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:03.759
Thank you very much.
00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:08.160
This has been a Naturally Scott Adventures podcast with Scott Harris.
00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:15.200
Naturally Scott Adventures is hosted by Scott Harris, produced by Justin Harris, and edited by Frank Sierra.
00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:21.599
Follow us on our YouTube channel at Naturally Scott and Instagram at Naturally Scott Harris.
00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:29.039
If this conversation resonated with you, please follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.
00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:34.240
Naturally Scott Adventures thanks you for viewing and listening to this podcast.
