As a braided river, typified by shallow, meandering channels separated by sandbars, it is an ideal crane habitat.

BBC: Nebraska��s awe-inspiring crane migration

Near dusk, another good viewing time, the cranes will gather on the sandbars in the river, reversing their grand morning exit.

BBC: Nebraska��s awe-inspiring crane migration

The beach they go to has real sand, lots of it, with blankets and beach umbrellas, salt water, a refreshment stand, seagulls, dead crabs, sandbars, waves.

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Such flow levels were a reproductive cue for spawning fish and produced sandbars that served as vital nesting grounds for shorebirds, particularly the least tern and piping plover.

CNN: Missouri River destiny hangs in the balance

The further they are from the river banks, the lesser their chance of getting attacked, so the sandbars in the middle of the river fill up first, with the birds jostling for a good place.

BBC: Nebraska��s awe-inspiring crane migration

This makes for spectacular and guaranteed crane viewing, but also means that ongoing projects, including clearing vegetation off the sandbars with heavy machinery each year, are needed to protect this last stretch of habitat, not just for sandhill cranes but also for the endangered whooping cranes who migrate through the area around the same time, and of which there are only 300 left in the wild.

BBC: Nebraska��s awe-inspiring crane migration