We had over 3000 cranes fly over the house or nearby yesterday. They were coming in waves from abour 4h00 to 5h30 in the afternoon so I photographed them all & then counted them afterwards. It's a lot easier than guesstimates. So I thought, that would make a good quiz. NO CHEATING! You have to look at the photo for about 10 seconds & then write down how many you think there are. Answers later, unless you want to do what I did & count them on the screen, in which case don't pass on your results!!
16h31 Quite a long way off
16h32
16h38-1
16h38-2
16h39
16h40
16h45
16h50
16h52
17h23
17h53 it's getting dark now
& an easy one, flying smack overhead, a lot of them came overhead but I had to wait until they were going away to get them all in the viewfinder!
Have fun, it's good practice for the real thing!
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
Just fabulous Derek, I would wish to be this near to one in the flesh!
BTW, went back over the Crane blogs & it was reported about the successful hatchings/fledgings, I obviously missed it ... but I did read somewhere about that awful predation incident! Thanks for bringing me up to date on this amazing project!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
EB, your aerial Waxwings are great too, how amazing to have that number so near!
Keep up with your Chopin, a great deal more difficult than counting bird flocks methinks ... hope your music is to accompany one of your vids!
Unknown said:When and where did you see all those Waxwings?
Great info &pictures,devonotter.What a success story.Ace. http://www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/ Now there`s no need to rely on escapees to enjoy a crane count. :-) http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Large-African-bird-spotted-roof-house-West/story-27923766-detail/story.html
Fancy seeing one of those on one's rooftop ... or even owning one!
Thanks Wendy, keep your eyes on tweets and blogs later on in the winter for sightings. If they are a few miles from you worth a trip to see them. they are gorgeous birds to see. Once they've found a berry tree they will stay around and eat the lot. Rowan Berries and Hawthorn berries are a great attraction. An odd bird was seen further north last year but no great numbers. We need Snow in Scandinavia and snow in Scotland and Northern England to drive them south. I will give you a shout if i hear anything but i'm guessing someone will thread a sighting on the community page.
Thanks Derek, will keep checking! Similarly, if any come to the Rowan I planted especially for them (ha ha) I will shout from the rooftops!