This site is still under construction, but the You Tube videos are worth seeing: the first shows a brief version of a pair dancing. This is to release stress, to bond and to release hormones. I can’t help but think it is just pure joy as well. The second is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLQTOIt_gBM and shows the first plus about eight more minutes of the birds calling.
I went to Rowe for the beginning of the crane season, but it was a very cold winter and the birds didn’t show up until March 1. I had a few great views, but left before the season really got going. I felt like I had unfinished business on the Platte and went back at the end of the month. I worked 17 hour days, slept on the floor in the gift shop (so I could hear the cranes on the nearby river when I woke up), cleaned toilets, led and assisted on viewing blind tours, washed dishes, and basically did whatever needed to be done at Rowe Sanctuary. Even ran the Crane cam one night, which is on Rowe’s home page. I haven’t felt so alive in a long time. Rowe has a full time staff of only 4; there are many local volunteers and folks like me who come from a long way off to help in any way they can. I felt blessed and very fortunate. Also saw two whooping cranes at a long distance, so the pictures aren’t great. But I saw them.
Tags: Outdoor writing
Boreal B[l]og 
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