Afternoon: 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Registration and check-in.

Dinner: Dinner at local restaurant

Evening: Welcome meeting, introductions, and important information about the Program

Lodging: Microtel Inn Hotel

Meals Included: Dinner

Rowe Sanctuary Viewing Blinds and Crane viewing in surrounding countryside

Breakfast: Microtel Breakfast Buffet including hot and cold items

Morning: In the early morning hours we will experience our first “crane rise” as the “gray sandbar islands” of the Platte River turn into clouds of Sandhill cranes leaving their roost sites. Pre-dawn crane music turns into a crescendo of wake-up calls as the cranes awaken and leave their riverine roost sites. We will have reserved blinds at Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary for prime views of the cranes in areas along the river’s edge. With an expert crane naturalist from Audubon, we will experience the almost deafening chorus and clamor of tens of thousands of cranes taking flight toward the cornfields and prairies where they will forage during the day..

Lunch: Local restaurant "brunch"

Afternoon: We learn by an expert lecture about the Sandhill Crane's behavior and its influence on our culture, and the arts. Then we take a Field trip to "Loafing Areas" called this due to the Cranes settling in and feeding, relaxing in surrounding farmer's corn and grain fields. As we angle our way back through farm fields and roads, we have a chance to watch crane behavior in detail. Watch for pair bonding activities, dancing, strutting, feeding, resting, and other flock dynamics.

Dinner: Dinner at local restaurant

Evening: After a very early start and a long day, free to relax and prepare for tomorrow's adventure

Lodging: Microtel Inn Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Visit and walk at Platte River Visitor Center and Evening fly-in of Cranes on Platte River at Rowe Sanctuary Blinds

Breakfast: Microtel Breakfast Buffet including hot and cold items

Morning: We visit the Platte River and Nebraska Division of Wildlife Visitor Center. We will walk on a path along the River looking for birds, water fowl, and wildlife. Then learn by lecture about the Central Flyway and the importance on preservation of bird species and the related protection of the flyway.

Lunch: Local restaurant or box lunch

Afternoon: We return to Platte River and Audubon Rowe Sanctuary. First we explore the sanctuary grounds then learn from staff about Sharing The Habitat; Another perspective on the Cranes; Then we move into our specially reserved blind to witness the evening fly-in of the cranes and their Roosting Time in the late afternoon-early evening.

Dinner: Late dinner at local restaurant following sunset viewing of the Sandhill Cranes .

Evening: Free time

Lodging: Microtel Inn Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Morning and evening visits to Fort Kearney State Park and its river spanning observation platform; special presentation of injured raptors by Raptor Recovery Nebraska.

Breakfast: Microtel Breakfast Buffet including hot and cold items

Morning: The morning will be spent learning about various birding techniques including Mist Netting/Banding and Field identification-birding at Fort Kearney State Park; hike/bike trail. We also will visit the recreated Fort Kearney to learn about it's role in the expansion of the Frontier.

Lunch: Local restaurant or box lunch

Afternoon: This afternoon we will have an exiting visit from naturalists and rescued birds of the Raptor Recovery Center - Helping Nebraska's raptors. The birds they will bring are injured raptors that are being rehabilitated for release back into the wild. Learn and experience first hand their work. We return to Fort Kearney State Park to venture out at sunset to watch the cranes come into roost from the former railroad and now the walking bridge over the Platte River.

Dinner: Dinner on own to enjoy downtown historic Kearney.

Evening: Free to enjoy historic downtown or relax. Downtown Kearney is a great place to hangout. There's a wide variety of cafe's and restaurants within walking distance of each other to choose from, plus local breweries and unique pubs that offer live music weekly.

Lodging: Microtel Inn Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

A grand circle trip through the Rain Water Basin and Water Fowl Protection area

Breakfast: Microtel Breakfast Buffet including hot and cold items

Morning: After breakfast, we drive south to Harlan County Reservoir with its excellent habitat for viewing a variety of waterfowl, shore birds, and resident raptors. There may be an opportunity to view from a distance a Greater prairie Chicken Lek along the drive.

Lunch: Local restaurant or box lunch

Afternoon: We drive through wetlands and ponds of the famous Rainwater Basin, one of the west’s most important areas for migrant waterfowl. Depending upon season and weather conditions, the sheer number of birds in these wetlands often defies the imagination in a wet year. We hope to find over a dozen species of waterfowl, and with luck we’ll find some of the thousands of wintering Snow and Ross’ Geese and perhaps a few White-fronted Geese still lingering there.

Dinner: Local restaurant

Evening: Free time for reflection and packing.

Lodging: Microtel Inn Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Microtel Breakfast Buffet including hot and cold items

Morning: Depart anytime after breakfast. Check out by 10:00 am.

Meals Included: Breakfast