The Great Sandhill Crane Migration

Destination: Kearney, Nebraska
Duration: Multi Day Tour: 5 Day / 4 Night
Availability: March 17-21, 2021 & March 24-28, 2021
Maximum Group Size: 12 Guests per Guide

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$2,399

Experience the Great Sandhill Crane Migration in Kearney, Nebraska on this 5 day, 4 night guided tour with BrushBuck Wildlife Tours!

An estimated 500,000 sandhill cranes gather on the banks of the Platte River in Nebaska, creating one of the true wildlife spectacles of North America. In addition to the Sandhill Crane, you’ll see 40 to 50 different species of birds.

This 5 day / 4 night tour includes lodging, refreshments, airport pickup and drop-off in Omaha, the use of binoculars/spotting scopes, and crane viewing blinds.

Tour Highlights

Common Mergansers and the Northern Shoveler
Redheads, Canvasbacks, and Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, and American Pelican
Snow Geese, Canada Geese, and Red-winged Blackbird
Horned larks, Grasshopper Sparrows, and Western Meadowlark
Cedar Waxwing, Greater Prairie Chicken (Grouse), and the Sharp-tailed Grouse
Hawks: Red-tailed, Sharp-shinned, and Rough-legged
Bald Eagles, Wild Turkey, and the Great Horned Owl
We will also have a great chance to see coyote, Red fox, Mule deer, and Whitetail deer.

Itinerary

DAY 1: AN EVENING ON THE PRAIRIE

Pickup time for day 1 is between 8:30AM and 11AM in Omaha. We will pick you up at either your hotel or the Omaha Airport. Please plan on flying into Omaha the day before your adventure starts! We will transport you from Omaha to to our lodge out on the prairie. You’ll enjoy a beautiful prairie sunset and a possible star lit night walk after dinner and sundowners.

Meals Included: Dinner

Accommodations

Calamus Outfitters Lodge (or similar)

DAY 2: PRAIRIE CHICKENS AND SWITZER RANCH

Day two starts early for Prairie chicken viewing with our Calamus Outfitter guide. We will view prairie chicken leks (breeding areas) as males compete for breeding rights. Expect lots of action early before we head back to the lodge for brunch; we’ll then depart for bird and wildlife viewing in the afternoon around the Switzer Ranch.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodations

Calamus Outfitters Lodge (or similar)

DAY 3: CALAMUS LAKE

Expect to start your day with a beautiful sunrise as we wait to catch a glimpse of the Sharp-tailed Grouse in our early morning blinds. After brunch, we will depart for Calamus Lake where in March 2014, Brushbuck guests saw over 100 Bald Eagles and 20 different species of other birds.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodations

Holiday Inn in Kearney, Nebraska (or similar)

DAY 4: SANDHILL CRANE VIEWING / AUDUBON SOCIETY VIEWING BLINDS

See one of Earth’s most spectacular wildlife events as thousands of sandhill cranes take flight in the beautiful Platte River sunrise. We will watch this scene unfold from the Audubon Society viewing blinds on Rowe Sanctuary. After morning crane viewing and brunch, guests will have an opportunity to attend their choice of guest speakers covering many different wildlife subjects. We will head back out to catch cranes coming in to roost for the evening.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodations

Holiday Inn in Kearney, Nebraska (or similar)

DAY 5: RETURN TO OMAHA

BrushBuck guests will depart early so we can stop for wildlife viewing on our way to Omaha to catch flights home. Approximate arrival time to Omaha will be 1:00pm, so please plan your return flights accordingly.

Meal: Breakfast

* End of Tour *

* Accommodations subject to change and availability.

What's Included

BrushBuck Naturalist Guide
Select meals
Transportation throughout the tour
Airport pickup/dropoff at Omaha airport or surrounding area
Use of binoculares/spotting scopes & tripods
Jeep Tour of the Switzer Ranch
4 nights lodging as listed
1 prairie chicken blind viewing trip
1 sharptail grouse blind viewing trip
2 sandhill crane blind viewing trips

Excludes air travel to Omaha, Nebraska
Alcoholic beverages & personal Items
Guide gratuity (10-15% of tour price recommended)

Small Public Tour Pricing

Double Occupancy$2,399 / person
Single Occupancy$2,599 / person

2022 Dates:

March 16-20, 2022 – BOOKED OUT
March 23-27, 2022 – BOOKED OUT

Cancellation Policy: 50% of the price of the tour will be withheld outside of 60 days; within 60 days, 100% of the total price of the tour will be charged.

Limited Spots Available. Book Your Tour Today!

Please contact BrushBuck with any questions or to reserve your tour!

What Our Guests Say

If I could give more than five stars I would! I had a wonderful time with Kyle, my guide, for the day long wildlife tour in the Tetons. He was a wealth of information and had a special gift for spotting wildlife. His enthusiasm for wildlife was contagious! The van was very comfortable and snacks and drinks were provided throughout the day. Our wonderful lunch at Dornan’s was also included. I would HIGHLY recommend!
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Whitney S.
3/03/2023

We recently did two full days of guided tours, with Kelsey as our guide both days. We had such a great time. Of course it’s hard to go wrong with the beauty of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, but Kelsey helped make the trip better than we imagined. First of all, Kelsey was fun to be around. She didn’t mind our lame dad jokes and constant ribbing between the seven guys we had. She laughed and participated which was more fun for all of us. Second, Kelsey really knows her stuff. She has a degree in biology and boy did it show. She was so knowledgeable about every animal we asked about. She knew about their breeding habits, their genealogy, and more. It was quite intriguing listening to her descriptions of what we were seeing. Third, she went out of the way to make the trip memorable. She simply would not quit on making sure we saw the wildlife we wanted to see. On the second full day tour, she told us she’d stayed up late reading up on many topics she thought we might ask about. It was really cool to hear that she took the time to prepare like that for our tour. We saw just about everything we’d hoped to see and more. Moose, bison, otters, bald eagle, elk, pronghorn, the list goes on and on. It is such a magical place and we enjoyed it far more because of the professionalism and dedication of Kelsey and BrushBuck Tours. Well done and I highly recommend you use them on your next adventure.
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Rich S.
12/16/2022

We had the best experience on our wildlife safari with Rachel! She was the most enjoyable person and knew SO much about the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, wildlife, history, and more. Our entire group loved her, so much that we canceled another tour with a different company and booked a second tour with her! The area was beautiful and the tours were great, but Rachel is truly what set it apart!
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Morgan W.
8/30/2022
RACHEL is AMAZING!!! We booked the full day wildlife Grand Teton tour, she took us on an amazing adventure seeing all kinds of wildlife, majestic scenery and a fabulous local spot for lunch to take to our picnic by the river. We had such a wonderful time, we immediately booked another full day Yellowstone tour, Rachel was scheduled to be off the day of our second excursion...... BUT she decided to work and WOW this one was even better - after searching for black bears for 2 days we finally saw 2 bears within 10 minutes of each other!!! Thank you BrushBuck Tours and Rachel for making our trip so memorable.
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Jodi H.
8/30/2022

“Cruisin' with Kyle” The four hours we spent with Kyle at Brushbuck Tours were chockful of fun and wildlife! Our animal... read more
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Barbara O
8/27/2022

Our family had a wonderful sunrise Safari. Andrew was very friendly & knowledgeable. We were able to see elk, moose, pronghorn antelope, a bear & a blue heron. We also received a lot of historical information plus some geology facts. The morning was a little chilly but- they provided blankets as well as, binocular’s and snacks. We were very happy we took this Safari.
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Tom &.
8/26/2022
I have searched for years to see a bear in the wild and Rachael brought this to life for me. She is a super star. Her passion and love of nature and wildlife made our trip truly special. We learned so much about the animals we saw and this tour exceeded our expectations. She started by asking what each of us wanted to see and then took us on a magical journey. If you have kids, she was awesome with the family on our trip and made sure she kept the kids engaged and safe. This was truly a spectacular tour that I will take every time in the area because it will always be ever changing. I will recommend this to everyone I know as a top pick when coming to the Tetons.
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Susan B.
8/23/2022

What an incredible day! Our group of six booked a private full day tour of Yellowstone and we were lucky enough to have Truman as our guide! He was amazing, so knowledgeable, great with our kids, dedicated to helping us find wildlife, and took excellent photos of the group for us!! We only had a day to do Yellowstone so I’m so glad we decided to book a tour with BrushBuck instead of attempting to see everything on our own. I would highly recommend! Ask for Truman!
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Jacqueline S.
8/13/2022

We did the lower loop Yellowstone tour and highly recommend! Truman was an amazing guide! Very knowledgeable in a range of topics from plants to wildlife to park history to algae! He has a passion for guiding and the outdoors and it shows! We saw a Moose, a grizzly momma and her two 1st year cubs, a huge whitetail buck, bison, elk, pronghorn, an array of birds.
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Stephanie H.
8/01/2022
“Wildlife tour” We had a great day with Andrew! We saw bear, moose, bison, and more! We will come back in the... read more
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343jacquelinel
7/14/2022

If you’re looking for a very knowledgeable tour guide, use them.
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Sean W.
7/10/2022

We are so glad we did this tour! Absolutely stunning scenery, we got to see some really neat wildlife, and our tour guide Truman was knowledgeable, kind and went above and beyond to ensure a great experience for our family. Highly recommend!
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Dana V.
7/10/2022
Molly took us on an amazing adventure and kept us smiling all day long. We saw Grizzly and babies, moose, elk, pronghorn, eaglets, bison, black bear. She knew the history of the area and educated us very well. She was upbeat and friendly and made our trip so much fun. We would recommend Brushbuck to everyone.
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Colleen T.
7/09/2022

Absolutely a great experience! Chris Brooks was our guide for our 12 hour tour of the lower loop of Yellowstone national park. Chris was very knowledgeable and knew all of the best spots for wildlife and beautiful, natural spots. Thank you Chris!
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Daniel G.
7/07/2022

We did the 12 hour Yellowstone tour with Kaya and the 4 hour dusk Grand Teton tour with Ryan aka Batman. Both experiences were wonderful.Yellowstone tour we were in an enclosed vehicle that was comfortable. Plenty of restroom stops are made. We saw 9 different animals including moose, grizzly, black bear, etc. Lunch was at a beautiful picnic spot. Kaya was so knowledgeable, kind and spot on when finding the animals!Grand Tetons tour was great. There was a storm in the middle of the tour which made for beautiful photos and a double rainbow. We got to ride in the open air safari vehicle which was an amazing experience. We ended our night seeing 3 bull moose!!
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Grace L.
7/03/2022
“We love Kelsey and BrushBuck!!” Our Yellowstone and Old Faithful wildlife tour with Kelsey was one of the coolest things we’ve ever... read more
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madisonmI7850OC
7/03/2022

“Sorry folks, park's closed, Moose out front should've told ya. Nevermind, come on in!!” There really aren't words for how magical our experience with BrushBuck was. The park had been... read more
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Camarie Brantle... Y
7/01/2022

We just finished our tour with BrushBuck Wildlife Tour and it was amazing. We have been to several national parks but my 17 year old has declared this "the best national park experience" we've ever had. The rest of us agree! We did the 8 hour wildlife tour of the Grand Tetons. We were scheduled for a tour of Yellowstone but when that got shut down due to the awful floods, Ren and the staff at BrushBuck worked with us to change to a Tetons tour and we are not at all sad about how that ended up. Our guide, Cooper, was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, chatty and was able to find animals that I'm sure we wouldn't have seen on a different tour. Including 3 bear cubs! I would absolutely and without hesitation recommend this tour to anyone.
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Darsee V.
6/18/2022