Sandhill Cranes and Deer at Sunset

I took my 8-year-old daughter, who loves both animals and photography,with me to watch the Sandhill Crane migration this year. 500,0004-foot-tall birds stop in central Nebraska for six weeks each year enroute from Mexico to Siberia. They spend their days foraging for foodin cornfields near the river, but at night they seek shelter fromanimals in the wide, clear sandbars of the Platte River. It's quite asite to see 10,000 squawking birds in one spot. Better yet, they allland and take off at roughly the same time each sunset and sunrise.It's only a two hour drive from our house, so we made it into a 24hour camping trip.

This was the view from the Ft. Kearney State Rec Area bridge atsunset. The cranes were a good quarter mile to the west, directly intoone of the prettier sunsets I've ever seen. You couldn't have askedfor a better backdrop. This was all the closer I could get with mycheap Tele-Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 (M42) lens.

A very good shot, considering what you had at hand. I can realise how you felt. I feel the same when I try to shoot birds with my Sony kit lens....just keep on wishing I could get closer... :)