Don Cox and Rick Rasmussen are landowners in the Rainwater Basins of south-central Nebraska along the Platte River. Don is a hunter and bird watcher, and Rick is a photographer and educator. Together, they share a passion for wildlife, wild places, and cranes–especially the big white ones. 

In this conversation, Mike, Don, and Rick share stories of the whooping cranes they have encountered together along the Platte River over the years. 

On October 28, 2023, four whooping cranes arrived on the Platte River south of Grand Island. Two of the four migrated around November 22. But these two stayed. They arrived on October 28 and remained until January 10. Over two and a half months the longest ever for any whooping cranes in the Platte River valley.

I thought they would leave after they went through a blizzard where we got around seven inches of snow, but they didn’t. They actually stayed through a second blizzard when we got around eight inches of snow.

These images are from the last day I saw them, January 10, 2024, a day before we had sub-zero temperatures for a week.