Several of you asked me to keep you up to date after last month’s post about the sandhill cranes’ unusually long stay on the Platte River this winter.  Normally, we see them briefly in the fall as they pass through (usually overhead) toward Texas, New Mexico, and points south.  This year, however, several thousand cranes stuck around much longer.

I’ve been keeping track of the cranes since, but haven’t gotten around to writing an update.  It turns out that my friend Larkin Powell (University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of wildlife ecology) did my job for me on his own blog “A Land Ethic”.  I invite you to read his latest blog post here where he provides both an update on the cranes and thoughts about potential causes and ramifications.  After you read about the cranes, you can scroll down to see some excellent photos in his “Best of 2011” collection.