The Sandhill Cranes Migrate...through Ky

Recently, one evening as my parents were watching Kentucky Afield, the program featured s special segment on the migration of the Sandhill Cranes though Kentucky. The thought of hundred, possibly thousands of cranes feeding and resting in a corn field in Kentucky was just mind boggling and simply irrestible.

So, on the spur of the moment, my dad and I set on a road trip...armed with cameras, video cameras, snacks, boots, coats, maps and as much information as I could find. It is always special when my dad gets to accompany me on a photography outing, especially since it doesn't happen often. Of coruse, he still doesn't understand why I need 100 pictures of the same thing when surely just five would do! :)

We made excellent time heading to Glasgow. Not exactly sure where to start looking, we headed out toward the Barren River State Park.


Beautiful country and doesn't it make sense...birds need water so where there is water there should be birds...Right? WRONG! It might have made sense to us, but we searched high and low, an off road here, a pasture there, following the suggestions everyone had given. My dad was getting a little nervous...he wasn't real sure we were going to find any cranes...how was I going to handle the disappointment?

I had to take a moment and remind him of my white squirrel story....just when it seemed hopeless, the Lord came right on time! and it helps, that I am not afraid to ask for help or directions!

As a final resort, we stopped by the Barren River Resort where the lady directed m eto the Bear's Den! No Kidding! Down those steps, follow a long hall..until you see the Bear's Den (aka the Ranger's Office!) Believe you me, it was a ranger's office...critters and books everywhere. Talk about timing...it was just perfect! The ranger had just arrived and was accompanied by Mr. Romer, a local photographer who had been scouting area cornfields for the cranes. Wow...that is just all I can say! Wow!

It is also unbelievably cool when you meet a fellow photographer who is willing to share information and this gentleman was very, very helpful. He not only told me where to go, he asked about my equipment, and he drawed me a map that was quite detailed and took us right to the cranes! Without this map, we would have never found the cranes...especially since they were on the "other" side of Glasgow! And then to beat it all, we very nearly missed them.

In fact, if we hadn't noticed a van pulled off to the side of the road, we would have missed our first field. But then suddenly, there were Cranes, Cranes Everywhere! I couldn't even begin to count the number of cranes! Their coloring of browns and grays blended in so well with the cornfields, it was the perfect camouflage.



We drove on a little ways where we found a 'couple'...just two cranes strolling through the pasture with the horses...like they had not a care in the world....Beautiful and amazing! and Unbelievable...if I had not seen it with my own eyes, not sure even I would have truly believed the numbers.


We traveled the whole area marked on our little map. Some roads had only a few cranes and others had multitudes. To see all these cranes literally sitting in folks backyards and pastures..can you imagine? If I had lived in the area, I would have been hard pressed to go to work until they left the area.


One of the coolest things was watching their mating dance. They would coo and dance and sway and just show off!

Here are just a couple videos that show off the cranes so much better than the actual pictures.





After several hours, dad who had been extremely patient and an awesome chauffeur, finally asked: Reckon you have enough pictures yet? So although it was hard to tear myself away, just as the cranes themselves were flying off to settle in for the night, wisdom dictated that as the sun was setting, we begin our long drive home.

Spring is here and with it warmer weather..when was the last time you had a spur of a moment adventure? Why not take one today!

Go Adventuring,