Springtime in the Midwest, at least for many birds, means migration time. The cranes of Nebraska are no exception. After a few weeks of hanging around the Platte, feeding and re-energizing, they are looking for the right winds to continue on their migration north. Wind direction is everything really. When the north winds blow they stay put and just wait it out. And as soon as the winds shift from the south, especially later on in the month of March, they are ready to go. Case in point…last week the estimated count of cranes in a 70 mile stretch of the Platte came in at 625,000 birds. Just one week later, after a few days of southerly breezes, the count was down to 169,500 birds. As we left Nebraska for home on Monday, you could see large groups ringing up to very high altitudes…a sure sign they are moving out for good.