There is quite a lot of news about cranes and it's all good. At Lakenheath Fen the two pairs of cranes have produced one chick that has survived to flying stage - just like last year. We had hoped that it would be two, and it was close, but one a year, every year, would be very good.
And at the Nene Washes a pair of cranes have nested for the first time and produced a flying baby crane too! How great is that? The Nene Washes really is becoming a fantastic site - lots of breeding waders including black-tailed godwits, reintroduced corncrakes, cranes and more!
And our project with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to reintroduce cranes into Somerset is going well too - as the images here show. It's always nerve-racking to captive breed a species and then get it into the wild but here are some cranes getting accustomed to their new home 'somewhere in Somerset' a few weeks ago.
I popped in to see these cranes when I was on holiday - they are really cute! And yes, I put on one of those ridiculous outfits - are cranes really that dim?
And now these same cranes, 20 of them, are taking their first flights around the Somerset Levels. It's another nerve-wracking time. Will they fly into pylons, be eaten by foxes or just fly away? Or will they, as we hope, stay in the area of the Somerset Levels and establish a breeding population? So far, so good. But it's still fingers crossed and an awfully long way to go.
Many thanks to Viridor credits for their funding and to the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust - our other partners in the Great Crane Project.
That's excellent news about the cranes, Mark, especially the first success at the Nene Washes. Regarding the picture above you should start a competition "Spot Mark Avery". It may not be very easy!!