MONTE VISTA – Every March, bird lovers flock to Colorado’s picturesque San Luis Valley from all over the state and beyond to witness the arrival of some 25,000 Sandhill Cranes.

The Monte Vista Crane Festival, slated for March 6 - 8, celebrates the crane’s annual stopover in the Valley. “Their remarkable journey begins in southern New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and ends in the crane’s nesting grounds around the Yampa Valley, Greater Yellowstone area and even further north for some of the longer-traveled birds,” said crane festival committee president Jenny Nehring.

Now in its 37th season, the crane festival is one of the oldest birding festivals in the country and the oldest in Colorado. Though the festival began in celebration of a small Whooping Crane population grown from science aimed at boosting the faltering species, the event now pays full tribute to Sandhill Cranes.

The San Luis Valley’s wide-open alpine desert, flanked by the rugged Sangre de Cristo and San Juan mountains, offers breathtaking vistas. The standalone beauty is heightened by the arrival of the cranes, drawing wildlife lovers and photographers to the Valley every year to bear witness. Other wildlife sightings include owls, eagles, elk, mule deer, pronghorn, coyote and a variety of other birds and raptors.

The elegant cranes gather by the thousands in the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, which manages its habitat to attract the birds and other wildlife.

Refuge staff plant barley in the surrounding fields and mowed them down just before festival. Cranes gather in the newly mowed areas to feed on the fallen grain and small animals attracted to the food. At night, the wetlands provide roosting sites that help protect cranes from predators, said refuge manager Suzanne Beauchaine.

Festivalgoers and folks visiting throughout most of March can expect to see hundreds if not thousands of cranes in one field alone.