Sandhill Cranes Arriving

The other night a friend and I stopped at Hart's Basin on our way home from skiing on the Grand Mesa. It is quite the contrast in environments right now, from the snow-packed mesa at 11,000 feet to low-lying Fruitgrower's Reservoir at 5,200 or so. As we watched pintails, a few cinnamon teal, and many mallards ducking about, we heard the distinctive bugle sound of the cranes. Within a few moments we watched them parachuting down out of the sky like so many exhausted paratroopers after a long day's migration. Forty or fifty cranes dropped down onto the field west of the lake, one by one, as the sun sank and a deeper chill returned. Eckert Crane Days is this weekend and next, March 20-22 and 27-29. Check out the website, Eckertcranedays/events.com Jane McGarry Paonia