Sure Sign of Spring

Even though the weather service is calling for possible snow this evening and tomorrow, there was a sure sign of impending spring this afternoon. A flock of sandhill cranes was circling the center of town just after 1pm.

The Gunnison Valley lies under the annual flight path of the cranes. They winter along the Rio Grande River at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuse near Socorro, New Mexico. Each spring they migrate north along their ancestral flight path to the Grays Lake area of Southeastern Idaho. In the fall they reverse the process and fly south over Gunnison in mid-September. You can see them in local fields in early evening. The wildlife refuge/bird viewing area west of town on McCabe Lane by the Waterwater Treatment Plant is a great place to observe these graceful creatures.

The cranes have a very distinctive sound - so get off your cellphone, turn off the iPad, get out of your diesel truck and hop on your bike or take a walk - to hear these harbingers of spring. You'll probably notice a lot of local folks stopping and staring skyward in the next month.