An un-Common Crane Part 2

Day 2 of searching for the Common Crane:

Day 3:

I was parked alongside a giant field at sunrise, having split off from the rest of the group.

After passing on an offer to go see Lesser Prairie Chickens on a lek in New Mexico, I was eager to see a new bird. It was getting discouraging searching a 1793 sq mi area covering two counties- a search area larger than the state of Rhode Island. We estimated about 40,000 cranes in the large flock we followed leaving the lake heading Northeast after sunrise. A group of about 10 people, part of the first-ever "Common Crane Blitz" ere spread out a little better than yesterday, and we covered the birds more evenly today. 

Here's a quick video I digiscoped with my iPhone amidst the excitement.