It was only within the last couple of days I was in Rapid City, South Dakota that I heard the sound I had heard only once before, almost exactly a year earlier (around the first of November) in Badlands National Park.
It's an odd "crrrraaaaack" sound that filled the air, though they were but dots so very high in the empty fall sky. Migrating cranes. Chances are they were Sandhill Cranes (especially given the large formation size; Whoopers usually favor smaller groupings, though you could argue the 'inner' grouping might be Whoopers...), but that area is also under the flyway of the endangered Whooping Cranes. The formation photo was taken roughly at 600mm and they were still too small for identification...too, I remember how it amazed me the volume of their unique voices that reached the surface far, far below.
flock of migrating cranes, eastern Black Hills, SDIt was just the other day that there was an AP wire story on the success of the Whooping Crane population, slowly climbing back from the brink of just 15 specimens many moons ago. In this day and age of negative shock news, I like to see the positive side of life brought forth. The Whooper's journey to recovery, though yet a long one still in the making,
is a testament to the many men and women who devote their lives to preserving biodiversity, essential for a healthy ecosystem and planet. Click here to read more about the Central Flyway population comeback. The Whoopers are more white where the Sandhills are more dusky. 
Males can be 5-feet tall and have a wingspan 7-8 feet across. Magnificent birds in every respect.Welcome back guys and gals.
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