Daylight sky-gazers could easily confuse the silhouette of a greater sandhill crane with that of a heron. But there’s no mistaking the strange call of the giant birds as they flap their way south to their winter home in New Mexico, with stops along the way to refuel. The basic “kar-r-r-o-o-o” is loud and expressive, changing to signal danger or to just keep in touch, and letting us human observers know something special is going on in the San Luis Valley.
GOOD MIGRATIONS
This month, between 25,000 and 27,000 greater sandhill cranes fill the San Luis Valley, pausing in the 850-mile-long sojourn from their summer home at Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Idaho to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.
Although less heralded, the cranes’ fall visit is just as spectacular as the spring stopover celebrated by the annual Monte Vista Crane Festival.
Instead of congregating en masse on the Monte Vista and Alamosa wildlife refuges, as they do each spring, in fall, the cranes spread throughout the wheat and barley fields surrounding Monte Vista and nearby ranch towns.
Stately and tall, with slender bodies and balletic legs, the cranes hunt for grain in the stubble, sometimes singly and sometimes in flocks. For a few weeks in September and October, cranes so thoroughly inhabit the land that they’re almost inescapable.
“That’s the reason we called our first book ‘Valley of the Cranes,”‘ said Colorado nature photographer Wendy Shattil, whose latest book, with her husband, Bob Rozinski, is “Valley of the Dunes.”
“We didn’t want people to think it was all about the cranes. At the last minute, trying to get some late aspen pictures, we kept hearing this sound. It was the cranes,” she said. “So we decided that we couldn’t fight it anymore. This is the valley of the cranes.”
The greater sandhill crane is one of two crane species native to North America. For 14 years, biologists attempted to resurrect the declining population of the whooping crane, North America’s other native.
In 1975, scientists swapped whooping crane eggs for eggs that the Monte Vista females laid in their Idaho nesting ground, effectively turning the greater sandhill cranes into foster parents.
Though 35 whoopers hatched, many died of avian tuberculosis, power lines and other causes, or were so bonded to their sandhill cousins that they refused to mate with other whoopers. In 1989, the scientists ended the foster crane program. The last of the surviving Monte Vista whoopers disappeared in 2002.
The greater sandhill cranes continue to thrive, however. Their fawn-gray feathers provide excellent camouflage. Bird-watchers learn to scan 4-5 feet above the ground, looking for the bird’s white cheeks and rust-colored forehead.
Shattil and Rozinski perennially attend the spring festival, usually held in March, though they often return in the fall. “It’s a nice time of year if you’re not going for the extravaganza that you see in spring,” Shattil said.
“The cranes aren’t as concentrated when they’re coming south. You’re more likely to stumble upon them, because they’re scattered throughout the valley.”
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A TOUR OF CRANES
Take a walk. Rangers will guide evening crane walks at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge tours on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. These tours are the only public opportunities to see sandhill cranes fly into a roost. Reservations are required for the 5:30 p.m. tours, which are limited to 20 people. Info: Donna Jackson at 719-589-4021.
Hear a talk. At 7 p.m. Friday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Marty Folk will discuss the whooping crane recovery in a free lecture at Bill Metz Elementary School in Monte Vista, at the intersection of U.S. 285, U.S. 160 and Colorado 15.
Have some fun. The fall Kids’ Crane Festival kicks off at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Monte Vista refuge office. The event includes games revolving around migration, a puppet show, wagon rides around the refuge’s auto-tour route and, at 5 p.m., a free barbecue.
Get out in the sun. Visitors also can walk around the Monte Vista refuge and look for birds in nearby grain fields. Maps are available at the refuge office and online at alamosa.fws.gov/ Cranes.html.
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IF YOU GO
Getting there. Driving from central Denver to Monte Vista takes about four hours; the trip is about 220 miles each way.
EAT
Visitors and locals like to warm up with an espresso or hot chocolate, along with a rice bowl or a wrap from the East-West Grill (408 Fourth St., Alamosa; 719-589-4600). The East-West Grill’s owners also run both Hunan Chinese restaurants in Alamosa (419 Main St., 719-589-9002) and Monte Vista (819 First Ave., 719-852-2002).
HIKE
Budget some time for hiking on the Great Sand Dunes. The highest one is about 750 feet above the valley floor. Expect a steep climb. The dunes rise so abruptly that some visitors bring old skis, snowboards and saucers to slide down the most precipitous faces.
SLEEP
It’s easier to find lodging in town during the cranes’ fall migration than in the spring. Most motels charge between $60 and $100 for a room. A perennial favorite, the Best Western Movie Manor (2830 W. U.S. 160, Monte Vista; 719-852-5921), offers rooms with a sound connection and view of the local drive-in movie theater screen. Alas, the Star Drive-In is closed until May, as is the hugely popular warm-water pool Splashland, an Alamosa icon. The cheapest option is one of the 88 campsites ($12 per night) at the Great Sand Dunes National Park (nps.gov/ grsa), which celebrated the anniversary of its transition from national monument to national park status last month. It’s a longish drive from town (45-60 minutes, mostly on back roads) but the price is unbeatable, the views are staggering, and the odds of finding cranes in the surrounding fields are decent.
