Last March, my mother and I drove to Monte Vista, Colorado. This small and old agricultural community and town is near the town of Alamosa and not far from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

The reason we were there was to see some of the annual migration of the Sandhill cranes. These majestic birds fly through Monte Vista twice a year, in the spring and fall, to rest and feed in the wetlands and on the farms before continuing on their journey to and from their breeding grounds in Yellowstone.

These birds are ancient – going back many thousands of years – and they are very large and very loud. You can hear their whoops before you see them, and when there are hundreds all together, it is a cacophony.