Photo Gallery
Photos by Beth Russell
The Platte River flows east out of the Rocky Mountains and by mid-Nebraska, it’s a slow-moving, much-braided stream whose many sandy islands permit…
…relatively safe roosting by a multitude of Sandhill Cranes.
In the morning masses of cranes leave the Platte in a spectacular and sometimes deafening departure, bound for…
…thousands of acres of adjacent corn fields, where they put on fat for the taxing journey to their breeding grounds.
In the evening the direction reverses as the cranes return to the river…
…providing many moments of singular beauty.
We watch this stunning spectacle from various places along the river, each with its own personality.
Our day in the rolling southern Nebraska-northern Kansas countryside provides our largely urban group with a feeling for a part of the world many of us have never seen…
…and experiences we might not otherwise have; here in Kansas, the self-proclaimed “World’s Largest Ball of Twine” overshadowed for some by the sudden appearance of “Toto,” befriended by leader, Paul Lehman.