There's been one outstanding highlight on the reserve this week. Two Common Cranes have been visiting the reserve for a few days (we've had a single bird around this reserve since April 5th). They've usually been tucked away in the marsh behind the loch and have been surprisingly hard to see, but on Wednesday they came out into the middle of the low ground in full view of the centre and Tower Pool Hide.
Just to see two Cranes on the reserve is always special, but these two had a bit more in mind. After quietly feeding for a while, one of them suddenly began to display- a leaping, wing-flapping dance that's equal part impressive and utterly ridiculous. The first 'dance' was pretty brief, but as they became more comfortable they put on a proper display for a good ten or fifteen minutes.
Luckily, John (one of our regular visitors who posts on the gallery as Scotview), was in the centre with digiscoping equipment set up and got this fantastic video. (If the video link doesn't work then click on- https://www.youtube.com/user/scotview)
Cranes are an annual visitor up here but none of us have seen this kind of display on the reserve before (although there is a story of one very confused Crane displaying to a Fox a few years ago!). We'll keep watching them closely over the next couple of days but we don't know how long we'll stay around, so if you want a chance to see this for yourself then make sure you plan a visit to Strathbeg in the next few days.