There are efforts afoot to re-introduce Cranes back to the Somerset Levels.
It would be wonderful to see such scenes, as in the photgraphs, back in the UK.
The Somerset Levels have been identified as the best location in the UK to release the cranes, due to the availability of existing habitat suitable for cranes to nest and feed in, and the potential for much more to be created. Although cranes have not nested there for 400 years, this area would historically have been a stronghold for them.
A grant will fund work to establish the best site for releasing the birds, and it is hoped that the first Slimbridge-raised chicks will be released to the wild in autumn 2010.
More here...
The Somerset Levels is a sparsely populated coastal plain and wetland area of central Somerset between the Quantock and Mendip hills.
The Somerset Levels consist of marine clay levels along the coast, and the inland moors. The area borders the Severn Estuary with its very high tidal range which used to cause marine flooding, but this is now largely controlled by various sea defences. The Levels are divided into two by the Polden Hills, with the catchment areas of the River Parrett to the south, and the rivers Axe and Brue to the north.
The total area of the Levels is about 160,000 acres.