The crane clock, ticking twice a year.

Weekly aerial counts mid-February to mid-April; peak mid-to-late March. 85-mile route Chapman to Overton, flown about 30 minutes before sunrise.

Fort Kearny State Recreation Area near Kearney, NE, is the practical RV base: it offers electric and non-electric campsites with showers and a dump station, and a hike-bike-trail bridge over the Platte that is a prime dawn/dusk roost-viewing spot. Many riverside viewing decks and blinds along the corridor are day-use only.

Arrival, peak and departure shift every year with weather and river conditions; numbers are never guaranteed. View from designated decks, bridges and blinds at dawn and dusk — never approach roosting cranes.

Weekly counts each Tuesday (Thursday backup), October to late December; peak late November to early December.

Private campgrounds and county/state parks near Medaryville and Winamac in northwest Indiana; the FWA's Goose Pasture viewing area is day-use. Confirm rig-length limits before booking.

The Tuesday count is a snapshot — numbers swing with weather and hunting-season movements. Watch the evening fly-in from the Goose Pasture observation tower; stay on the platform and keep noise down.

Greatest numbers of wintering sandhill cranes and snow geese early November to late January (USFWS). Day-use auto-tour loop; no camping on the refuge.

No live count is published here — the agency gives a typical window only. USFWS — Bosque del Apache NWR, Wildlife Watching

Day-use only — the refuge has an auto-tour loop and trails but no camping. Nearest RV bases are private campgrounds and RV parks in Socorro, NM (roughly 20 miles north) and the small town of San Antonio just north of the refuge entrance.

Timing varies year to year; peak counts are never guaranteed and no live count is published here. Shoot from tour-loop pullouts with the engine off; give wildlife full right-of-way.

Wintering October to April; the wild Aransas–Wood Buffalo flock is the world's only self-sustaining wild whooping-crane population — a rarity story, not a spectacle of numbers.

No live count is published here — the agency gives a typical window only. USFWS — Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Day-use only — the refuge has a 16-mile auto-tour loop (open sunrise to sunset), trails and observation towers but no camping. Nearest RV bases are the many private RV parks and resorts around Rockport-Fulton, Texas, a short drive south of the refuge.

This is an endangered species counted in the hundreds, not thousands — frame it as rarity, never a spectacle. Arrival and departure vary year to year and sightings are never guaranteed. View from the tour road or tower at a respectful distance.