Re: [cobirds] Cranes Abundant at Monte Vista

Hi John,

I appreciate your updates on the cranes. In about 2 weeks, a few of us from the Broomfield Bird Club are going to make a trip down there. As I recall, there are some county roads with ample parking where I was able to view the cranes during the day last year. Would this be a good place to see them at dawn, or is the refuge a better spot for sunrise viewing?

Karen Clark

Broomfield 

Sent from my iPad

On Feb 26, 2026, at 6:34 AM, John Rawinski <johnrawinski0@gmail.com> wrote:

Glad you experienced those moments. As far as Greater Yellowlegs, they are one of the first shorebirds we see in spring. Had them at Smith a few weeks ago. Nice finds!

On Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at 8:11:59 PM UTC-7 Caoimhín Perkins wrote:

I want to second that first light is a great time to see the cranes at Monte Vista NWR. We pulled up at 6am, complete overcast and fog, astronomical twilight — *before* first light. My partner and I stopped at the very first pond you encounter in the loop and saw the faintest shadows of cranes starting to move in the near-perfect dark. Very magical and mysterious moment, like the cranes were slowly popping into the faintest of existences. We kept driving and around civil twilight, the huge amount of noise at the larger pond they gather at was incredible, as were the huge flocks as they took off, piecewise, over the next hour. 

Afternoon is cool, but seeing them wake up in the dark is something else. Not sure if this is the right time of year, but there were greater yellowlegs in the pond right before the big one when we went.

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/f4378d96-7b04-49e2-abf1-62a0a258720cn%40googlegroups.com.