It's not a California freeway. It's not a route for passenger jets. It's a zone through which millions of birds migrate each year and Hastings is near its heart. The sandhill and whooping cranes, of course, are the most famous birds that use the route and soon more than half a million will be roosting, feeding and courting along the Platte River between Grand Island and Kearney. But cranes aren't the only users of the Central Flyway.
People come from all over the world to see it.
Volden, a naturalist at Crane Meadows Nature Center north of Juniata, said nine out of 10 people in the groups he takes bird watching are from out of state. Local residents often ignore the annual event, he said, which is considered one of the most spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities in the country along with the caribou migrations in Alaska. Shallow water, he said. Melting snow and spring rains create many shallow lakes, ponds and marshy areas. These are ideal breeding grounds for insects which most birds are fond of eating.