There were thousands of cranes and the noisy liftoff started in the dark. Maybe a gunshot from a distant duck hunter got them going. A lot of them would take off at the same time. As the crowd thinned, a few that were left alone moved closer to the main group of remaining birds.
We left our hotel just after six and got to the refuge at six-thirty. I made a video to record the amazing sounds of a thousand cranes. One other older couple showed up and watched the birds from their car. We drove out of the refuge right at sunrise. It was 36°F but our fingers froze.
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