Migration of the sandhill cranes

About 90 minutes south of Notre Dame, deep in rural Indiana, is the Jasper-Pulaski fish and wildlife area. For a month or so every fall and spring, the area hosts a huge population of sandhill cranes. The cranes live in northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan and southern Canada in the summer, and very sensibly winter in Florida. The Jasper-Pulaski wildlife area has for many years been a resting spot for the cranes as they make their twice-yearly migratory journey.

[Photo above by Chris Bergin, from http://chrisbergin.photoshelter.com/.] In the fall, the birds tend to stop over in Indiana between late October and late November. At the height of the migration, as many as 20,000 cranes are gathered in quite a small area. The spring migration passes Indiana usually late February to late March, but for some reason unknown to m there tend to be many fewer birds at the peak time, maybe 6,000 to 7,000.

[Photo above from meetup.com.] The best time to see the birds in just around sunset, as they return from a day's foraging. Most of them fly in to a single field (conveniently located next to a viewing platform) in the hour leasing up to sunset, and trot around socializing for a little while, before heading off to a nearby marshy area to sleep.

[Photo above by Tim Wallace, from birdzilla.com.] In the air the cranes are beautiful creatures, with long legs and wingspan, and an elegant gliding motion. On land they lumber around in a rather ungainly way. The sight, and sound, of thousands of these birds filling the twilight sky, coming in in waves from all directions, while thousands more wander around on the ground chatting, is truly awesome.

As I mentioned earlier, the best time of the year to take the nice drive through the cornfields of Indiana to the wildlife area is in the fall, but it is also well worth the effort in the spring. As a bonus, you get to see birdwatchers, too! [Photo above from http://rensselaeradventures.blogspot.com/2009/11/sandhill-cranes-at-jasper-pulaski-fish.html.]