A record number of whooping cranes—more than 60—stopped over along a stretch of roughly 40 river miles of the Platte Valley during a several-day period in mid-November. I photographed the leading edge of this arrival on Crane Trust land as the numbers built. There was no doubt in my mind that the big groups in Saskatchewan I had seen near Marcelin were still traveling together.

I captured 23 whoopers in one frame, including four chicks, from a Crane Trust blind with friends. Standing there, I knew we were witnessing something no eyes on the Platte Valley had seen in four or five generations.