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| Cranes on their wintering grounds in Extremadura, Spain |
Whether common cranes were ever actually common in East Anglia is open to debate. Circumstantial historic evidence indicates they may well have been a widespread and abundant breeder in our marshes and fens in centuries past, or used the region as a wintering ground, but there is little concrete proof in support of this. The documentary evidence is sparse with one allusion to a ‘Pyper crane’ being contained in a document dating from 1543, but this could just as easily have been a colloquial reference to a grey heron or some such. There are other references to cranes featured as illustrations in manuscripts or listed as components of medieval feasting. But if it was once to be encountered gracefully striding across our soils, its evocative bugling cries echoing across our flatlands we will never know for sure. What we do know and can justly be proud of is that common cranes did take up residence in Norfolk in 1979 and have been here ever since, slowly building a breeding pool that when joined by non-breeders and migrants now number some 70 birds county wide.
The story of their return began in September 1979
with a phone call received by John Buxton of Horsey Hall from an estate farmer
who excitedly reported he had just seen “the biggest bloody herons”. The birds
turned out to be a pair of common cranes that were joined by a third bird later
that autumn. This trio spent the winter in the Hickling/Horsey area of
Broadland feeding in potato fields and amongst stubble. These birds left the area the following April
no doubt attempting to return to their native Scandinavia to breed. Perhaps
deterred by the long sea crossing they abandoned this migration attempt and
returned to Norfolk a couple of weeks later. There they remained with the
original pair eventually settling down to breed during the spring of 1981. That
pioneering breeding attempt proved unsuccessful, but the birds tried again the
following year with greater success, rearing a single chick to the fledging
stage. This represented the first known common crane to be reared in the UK
since perhaps the 16th century marking a red-letter day for all
concerned with the bird’s welfare and conservation.
Being large and obvious ground nesting birds, crane
nests and chicks are very vulnerable and open to predation. The recolonising
birds had a tough time of it over the next twenty years, but eventually reached
the stage where numbers outgrew their original Horsey home. In 2003 they began
nesting at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve at neighbouring Hickling and in
2007 began to spread further afield when a pair nested at the RSPB’s reserve at
Lakenheath Fen in Suffolk following an influx of Continental migrants into the
region. Since then the birds have spread naturally as far afield as Yorkshire
and Scotland.
During the period 2010-2014 the RSPB together with
the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Pensthorpe Conservation Trust released
around 90 captive bred cranes into the Somerset Levels. The Great Crane Project
had the purpose of securing the future of common cranes within the UK and was
greeted with publicity and media attention, in my view somewhat detracting from
the decades of dedicated conservation effort that took place here in East
Anglia to nurture a viable natural recolonization.
It would be quite wrong to forget the magnificent
efforts of John Buxton, his estate employees, RSPB staff and volunteers who
acted as guardians for this vulnerable species throughout the critical first
few years of its precarious tenure. Without the efforts of this dedicated band
it is doubtful whether the cranes would have been left undisturbed by egg
collectors, farming activity and well-intentioned but ultimately disruptive
sightseers.
Happily, the full story of how common cranes came
to once again reside in eastern England has been documented in a marvellous
book entitled ‘The Norfolk Cranes’ Story’ co-authored by Chris Durdin, a
Norwich based conservationist who runs Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays. Chris
worked with John Buxton to fully detail the trials and tribulations of these
enigmatic birds as they slowly regained their place as a UK breeding species. I
can thoroughly recommend the work which was first published in 2011 and is now
available in paperback. It will have special resonance with anyone who loves
the wild open spaces of East Anglia. If
you feel in need of an uplifting read visit www.norfolkcranes.co.uk for details of how to buy your copy.
This winter several birds have been regularly
feeding in the stubble fields next to the A1064 at Billockby near Acle. They
are wary birds though and will not allow close approach. One of the best places
to see common cranes during winter is from the Stubb Mill raptor watchpoint at
Hickling. The birds often come to roost amongst the wide expanse of marsh and
fen together with many marsh harriers and occasional hen harriers. It is an
amazing sight and we should all be proud that we are, once again, able to witness
these majestic birds sweeping across wide East Anglian skies.
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| Wintering Cranes. Extremadura, Spain |
