A Wildlife Wonder

Sandhill cranes use their wings as parachutes when landing in Nebraska’s Platte River and it’s sandbars

           The setting sun hovered above the horizon. In the distance, a small flock of sandhill cranes began to approach out of the central Nebraska sky. As they fly, their far away honks move closer and closer. Their wings transform into tiny parachutes allowing their thin stick legs to softly touch the ground when approaching the sandbar on the Platte River. They continue to honk after they land, gather together and stand like farmers by a pickup truck discussing what they did all day.

            More and more birds fill the reddening sky as the sun moves closer to its setting. All across the horizon massive flocks of distant birds appear, while several smaller flocks in distorted, half-hearted V–formations fly directly above.

A small sample of the tens of thousands of sandhill cranes that fill the Platte River in Nebraska each March.

           A throng of people gather on a walking bridge that crosses the river watch the birds fly in to roost for the night. The observers remain quiet and only the birds and the timelessness of the moment speak. The warm glowing light, the magical cries, and the drama of a sky filled with tens of thousands of birds produces an emotional pause for many.

Magnificent Nature Points to a Magnificent God

          I cannot help but see the hand of God as so many of these large birds fill the sky. It’s remarkable how birds with brains the size of a peanut can fly superior to anything man has made. There are so many, yet they do not hit each other. I watch as they often dip their wings and take a sudden vertical drop before parachuting their wings out to land with precision on one of the many sandbars filled with other cranes.

Sandhill cranes fill the red sunset sky above the Platte River in Nebraska.

            The number of people who come to watch the early spring gathering of the cranes attests to its magnificence. But what makes this massive wildlife event emotional and spiritual for so many? Perhaps it is that the hand of God is clearly evident. Yet all too often many still fail to recognize it and miss the real miracle in the moment.

Hundreds of cranes fill a sunsetting sky.

            The words of Romans 1:19-20 are certainly applicable as they tell us God is clearly evident in nature. “Which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

You can learn more about the annual sandhill crane migration through Nebraska through this link. To read more about Roman’s One and the evidence for God in what He has made click here.