Sandhill cranes starting to depart for northern nesting grounds, but Nebraska show not over just yet

[Omaha Steve]

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ANDREW CARPENEAN/WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE

Sandhill cranes land in an open field of corn stubble along Gun Barrel Road in Hall County.

http://www.omaha.com/outdoors/sandhill-cranes-starting-to-depart-for-northern-nesting-grounds-but/article_f08fddfd-50aa-50ef-8c8f-3d7549a36b36.html

POSTED: THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016 12:30 AM
By David Hendee / World-Herald staff writer

The sandhill crane migration through Nebraska is winding down, but that doesn’t mean the spring show is shut down.

An aerial survey earlier this week found an estimated 54,000 cranes in the Platte River Valley of central Nebraska, said Andrew Caven, lead biologist at the Crane Trust near Wood River.

Record numbers of sandhill cranes poured into the region in early March and kept coming. There were an estimated 413,000 cranes in the area at their peak in mid-March. Most are now gone.

“We had virtually no birds in the eastern half of the Big Bend,’’ Caven said. “There is still a fair number of birds on the western side.’’

FULL story at link.