Possibly Cranes?

[frogflyer]

Hi everyone new to the forum just learning my way round the site but do have a valid question can anyone help with as i live in the Limousin which is in France.

Every year we have these birds migrate south up to England mid feb till now and then about october they come back again, they fly exactly like geese in v-formation, but there are hundreds of them at one time they fly over here for quite some time they can be heard flying about 20minutes away before you see them.

We have a large lake about 1/4 mile from us and they go there for a short stopover getting photos has been very difficult as they are happy to let you drive past about 100m away but if you stop they are off very fast. the only thing i can perhaps liken them too is a Chinese Crane but maybe some of you can tell me for definite.

Have a look at the photos and see what you can make of them......

[Neil Rigby]

Thanks FrogFlyer for the post and welcome. It's good to get some posts from abroad, particular with the connections to the UK and Ireland.

Great post and very intriguing since they keep flying off!

I'm no crane expert, but they certainly look like cranes to me, probably Grus grus. I'm sure John can give us a conclusion.

For our Members who don't know about Limousin in France, and perhaps thought you were living in the back of a car! I've posted a link and some maps to show the area in central France where you photographed these birds.

Google Map
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=limousin+france

[clydebirder]

Hi Frogflyer, Neil

Yes they are indeed Common Cranes (Grus grus), you are lucky to see so many at once. I normaly see one maybe two if I'm lucky every other year.
They are a long distance migrant, western population breeding mainly in Scandanavia and a small population in Norfolk in the UK, they winter in Africa (south to Morocco and Ethiopia) & southern Europe.

cheers, John

[Neil Rigby]

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.

[Neil Rigby]

Relevant for this thread is the collective noun for Cranes.

With a bit of research into this it seems it's a Herd of Cranes.

This does seem quite a good way of describing the scene in the photos.

[John Wells]

I have just added a post on the subject of re-introductions to my blog.

I hope it doesn't annoy you too much!

John

ancient birder