Jane and the Crane Migration

One of Jane's favorite places to visit and "recharge her batteries" is the Platte River in Nebraska. Her dear friend photographer Tom Mangelsen has a family cabin there and Jane tries each year to sneak a few days into her busy schedule to witness the migration of the sandhill cranes and snow geese. Every March and April, an estimated hundreds of thousands of these magnificent birds travel through Nebraska on their great migration to Alaska and even Siberia.

The time is spent not only observing the cranes but also relaxing with her friend Tom. Tom is a Nebraska native and one of the world's premiere nature photographers. His photography has been featured in some of the world's leading journals and he is the owner of Thomas Mangelsen's Images of Nature Gallery. Please be sure to view his website, which features many stunning images for sale. Currently, Images of Nature has a promotion that benefits the Jane Goodall Institute. To both Jane and Tom, the cranes are not only beautiful, but are symbols of peace.

Jane takes a moment to reflect in Nebraska.

The Platte River area during a beautiful multi-colored sunset.

Jane and Tom roll up their sleeves and gather wood for a fire at the cabin.

The sandhill cranes fly in formation near the Platte River.

Jane shares a laugh with Patricia Hammond and Jason Schoch, both involved in the Roots & Shoots program in South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Learn more about our fantastic programs for the Native American community on the Roots & Shoots website.

Jane sneaks in a few minutes to catch up on email at Tom's cabin!

 Photos by Tom Mangelsen - Images of Nature

Text by John Trybus (JGI)