Sunset on the Platte River in Nebraska

Elm Island Drive, Gibbon Nebraska

As I'm going through the 600+ images, I'm probably discarding around 80%. That may sound like a lot, but that's pretty typical. Most of the photos that end up in file #13 are repeats and are not sharp enough. As a general rule, you try to focus on the subjects eyes. If I can't see their eyes very clearly, then I throw it out. With cranes, it's very difficult, because their head is so small, and they are always moving.

Thursday AM (from an undisclosed location)

Well season two of my now annual Roe Sanctuary trip is in the books. What have I learned? You can still run out of space on a 8GB CF card. I thought something was wrong with my camera, it took me a few minutes to realize that there was no more space on the card. Unfortunately, it came at the worst time- when all the cranes decided to leave at once. There were definitely more birds this year. In fact, one of the locals said this year was the best for crane viewing in 10 years! It will take me awhile to sort through the photos, but here is the first of many.

Nebraska Mid-Day Report

Weather is perfect- yesterday was a bit warm for this time of year, but today is more norm. (high 50's during the day- 30's at night) Just driving around country roads and corn fields- this is what you see. The locals are so used to this, that it hardly fazes them. To us out of towners, this is a sight to behold. Can't wait until tonight and tomorrow morning.

Greetings From Nebraska

I arrived yesterday around 5pm. After settling in, I made the trek to Cabelas across town to purchase some cold weather clothing. Wow, what a store- it was my first time. My allergies and blood sugar were giving problems last night, but I feel much better this morning. A soon as I catch up on emails, I will roam around the area until 4pm when it will be time to head to the photo blind. Later...

Gus

I had posted this photo previously, but I realized there were a couple of dust bunnies. This was the sensor problem I have since corrected.

Upcoming Trip To Nebraska

On March 25, I will be spending the night in a photo blind at the Platte river in Kearney, Nebraska. This is the location of the Rowe Sanctuary- where three quarters of the world's population of SandHill Cranes stop to nest on their way north. I made this same trip last year, with less than satisfactory results. I was a little ill-prepared for the extreme weather, even though I brought cold weather gear. Most importantly, I have upgraded my photo equipment. This year I am bringing extra batteries for the camera, and much faster and higher capacity flash memory. Last year I brought a 300 f/4 Nikon lens to get close shots of the birds. With a 1.5x crop factor for the D200, that equates to a 450mm f/4. The folks at Rowe recommended this as a minimum set-up. Well, that really wasn't the best setup for me because of the low light, I couldn't take advantage of using a teleconverter. After the trip I realized I needed a more powerful lens. I ended up purchasing a Sigma 50-500mm f/6.3. If you factor in the crop, it is a essentially a 750mm f/6.3 setup. Ideally I would like to eventually purchase a Nikon 600mm f/4, but I don't currently have the funds for that. For landscape shots, I will rely on the Nikon 18-70mm lens. Will a landscape shot at Rowe make it into my project? I don't know yet. I also will be passing through several other states on the way there, so I may have the opportunity for photos for the project in Illinois, Iowa, etc.