Migratory visitors
Sandhill cranes fly near Dilling Road in Connell Saturday. The 27th annual Sandhill Crane Festival had around 35,000 cranes stop during their yearly migration up to Canada.
NANCE BESTON/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Two sandhill cranes rest in a corn field outside of Othello during the afternoon Saturday. The birds spend their days by the water but at night and in the morning, they like to hang out in the empty corn fields.
Around 100 sandhill cranes hang out on an island. Visitors could view the cranes from the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Marsh Unit 1 Overlook. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife had telescopes for visitors to peer through to see the birds.
A Sandhill Crane Festival attendee looks through her binoculars at Scooteney Reservoir waiting for the cranes to do their nightly fly-over. The birds nested on islands in the reservoir during the night.
A sandhill crane picks up corn husks in a field outside of Connell. The cranes like to hang out in corn fields when not by the water.
Two Sandhill Crane Festival attendees watch a flock of cranes flying in the distance at Scooteney Reservoir Saturday.
Sandhill cranes fly above Othello Friday. The birds are listed as a species of greatest conservation needed under the Washington State Wildlife Action Plan because their nests are vulnerable to water-level changes.
Sandhill cranes rest in corn fields outside of Othello on Saturday.
OTHELLO — People from throughout the Pacific Northwest gathered in and around Othello to catch a glimpse of an annual phenomenon. Whether they crept down backroads with binoculars and cameras poking out of windows or followed trumpeting and croaking noises to their quarry, visitors to the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival were looking for the majestic bird.
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