I'll try to add the photo soon,
Curry Rivel News
A West
Sedgemoor Wonder
Photo attached
Timmy and Michaela
with their two young hatched on West Sedgemoor in 2017.
Photo courtesy of John
Crispin
This year, for the first time for in four centuries a very
special event took place on the West Sedgemoor reserve– five golden, fluffy chicks were hatched. Three pairs of Eurasian (or Common) Cranes successfully
reared four chicks to the point of fledging.
They, with their parents, are now with the general flock and can be seen
at times within the bounds of Curry Rivel village. The juvenile birds are almost as big as their
parents now but they don’t quite look like them yet. They have rusty coloured heads and necks
unlike the adults who have black and white heads and necks with a bright red
top to their heads. The young stay with
their parents for around a year until the breeding season starts and then they
are chased away so that the adults can get on with their important breeding work.
Local schools and businesses were
encouraged to champion the released birds so they all have pet names though
they are properly identified by their leg rings.
The best place to observe a flock is from the Parrett Way
between Oath and Stathe but they do move around quite a lot. They can be seen in the air in their V shaped
pattern and can be heard ‘bugling’ (a bit like yodelling). The released birds still wear their coloured
identity rings which are on their legs and this helps to record their
progress. Out on the Levels they are
remarkably difficult to see considering they are now one of the largest wild
birds in Britain. Nature has ensured
that they melt into the background whatever it is. Also they love feeding in ditches and where
the vegetation is tall. However patience
is rewarded by the sight of them peacefully feeding or preening. It will be some years before the project is
considered a success because Cranes are quite long lived (around 20 years) and
take time to establish a sustainable flock.
The project to re-introduce cranes to the Somerset Levels,
where they used to be very common until hunted out of existence, started in
2010. After 5 years around 100 birds had
been released after eggs from Germany
were hatched at WWT Slimbridge. 93
birds have survived and all are capable of breeding now. So far these beautiful birds have produced 11
young in locations as far away as
Wiltshire and South Wales but this year
the successful rearing took place on West Sedgemoor – the event we were all
waiting for! This has confirmed the
wisdom of releasing them on the Levels where hopefully they will stay for a
long time to come.
If you would like further information you can visit the Crane
website:
Liz Antliff-Clark
RSPB Volunteer
and member of our CR Wildlife Survey Group.
