A couple of weeks ago I posted about some of the luxurious accommodations that I occasionally find myself in. I also mentioned that there are times when they’re not so luxurious. My brother asked for photographic evidence. Here it is:

This is a four foot by eight foot plywood box, four feet high, that is sitting on the bank of a river in Nebraska. It was late February or early March and it was cold. Very cold. My wife and I were there to photograph the Sand Hill Crane migration and had to be closed up inside this box a couple of hours before sunset so that we wouldn’t disturb the birds as they returned to the river for the night (Cranes “sleep” standing in the water). We couldn’t get out of the box until after the birds all left which is usually a couple of hours after sunrise.

I don’t think we were alone in that box, though. We could hear something in the straw at night but couldn’t turn on a flashlight to investigate (again — mustn’t disturb the birds) and some of our snacks were missing in the morning.

I’m not sure how many cranes were in that stretch of the river that night but I think it could have been in the tens of thousands. About half a million migrate through in a very short period of time. It was quite an experience hearing them all chattering in the night but I think once was enough for me. I’ve never had a greater appreciation for nature photographers than I did that night.