A whooper family with telemetry transmitters—individuals G/W, Y/G, and Y/B/Y—showed up on Halloween at the Crane Trust property. A single unmarked whooper, possibly their chick from last year and now a sub-adult, was tagging along. Biologists and I watched these whoopers bathe in a river channel, hunt for fish, and interact with sandhill cranes on the roost. Once, a mature bald eagle dove at one of the whoopers.

The day reminded me of a Halloween years ago, when my daughter Elsa was in grade school. She told me she wanted to watch cranes on the Platte instead of trick-or-treating. I didn’t think we’d see any—far fewer cranes stop on the Platte in the fall. But that Halloween, we saw a family of whoopers fly right by us at Rowe Sanctuary. I couldn’t believe it.