Common Crane
Surfbirds News: RSPB Archives
Cranes have been found breeding in the Fens of East Anglia for the first time in 400 years.
The huge birds are nesting at the RSPB's Lakenheath Fen nature reserve in Suffolk - a site that was a carrot field until the Society bought it 11 years ago and began its transformation into a square mile of marsh and fen.
Staff there came upon a nest by chance while carrying out a routine survey of the site. It is believed the eggs are about to hatch and may already have done so. In addition, the nesting pair appear to have attracted in other, visiting cranes.
Common Crane © Dave Hutton
The amazing discovery comes as Lakenheath Fen prepares to throw open the doors to its new visitor centre on 17 May 2007.
With a seven-foot wingspan and a loud, bugling call, the crane is a true wildlife spectacle. Persecution and the large-scale drainage of the Fens for agriculture, led to its disappearance as a breeding bird in Britain by about 1600.
A small number returned to the Norfolk Broads in 1979 but while they have bred there successfully, the population has remained isolated and vulnerable. Their arrival at Lakenheath Fen offers hope that they may now be starting to spread into the Fens.
|
