the cranes converge in this one field at dusk and have a social hour until dark among the deer and the people with binoculars. while we were there a bald eagle soared in and the whole crowd flew up and away but they came back minutes later. when darkness falls they all rise again together and move into the swamp to sleep in the trees. they stand in the water through the night. there are around 25,000 now at peak time, and 5,000 stay over the winter. as each year warms more stay. we see signs of farms for sale and hope they become swamp again. the present swamp is getting too small. some chucklehead from north dakota brags about shooting cranes at home and i wonder why he has to speak it in the presence of people who feel awe just observing them. it's a different branch of the crane family he eats, but all the cranes have been migrating since long before we started draining the swamps and dividing the land.
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