As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday 14 October 2016

Rare cranes breed in Wales for the first time in 400 years



 11:31, 5 Oct 2016
Updated 11:32, 5 Oct 2016
By Chris Kelsey
 
The birds nested on the Gwent Levels this year successfully rearing a single chick which flew for the first time in August.

The birds nested on the Gwent Levels this year, successfully rearing a single chick which flew for the first time in August.
 
The adult birds originate from the Great Crane Project reintroduction scheme which released 93 hand-reared cranes between 2010 and 2014 on the RSPB West Sedgemoor Reserve in Somerset.

Damon Bridge, RSPB manager of the Great Crane Project, said: “These wonderful birds died out across the UK sometime in the 1600s, having been a favourite of the medieval dinner table. Seeing them spread back into their former haunts highlights the importance of protecting our wetlands.”
 
Perfect area
Cranes need very quiet, secluded, wet areas to breed, and an area of the Gwent Levels provided just the right mix of a secluded nest site and undisturbed, food-rich rearing habitat for the pair, which the RSPB says will almost certainly return again to breed next year.

Continued 
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