Nest had me craning my neck on the train
CRANES are some of the UK’s rarest breeding birds, and with just 25 pairs of cranes breeding in the UK each year, give or take, it is hardly surprising that few people will have ever seen one in the wild themselves.
Anyone lucky enough to spot one cannot mistake the bird for anything else as they’re massive – just look at the size of the bird here fending off an eagle.
It is no wonder then that staff and volunteers at RSPB Lakenheath Fen nature reserve on the border of Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, are over the moon that this summer, for the second year running, two pairs of cranes have successfully raised three crane chicks between them on the reserve.
To top it off, these scarce birds, which are very shy and secretive during the breeding season, have done it all in front of an audience of commuters on the train route between Norwich and Ely.
I nipped down myself a couple of weeks ago and it was a wonderful sight from the speeding train – second-class carriage, first -class views of heron, buzzard, crows, and yes, cranes.
Two chicks made their maiden flight in July. Since then they have been feeding and building up their strength and confidence under the watchful eyes of their parents before they leave the reserve in the autumn to feed across the wider fens.
This pair have equalled their feat of 2015 when they became the first pair of cranes at Lakenheath Fen to successfully raise two young.
The reserve’s second pair of cranes, known affectionately to staff and volunteers as Little and Large, have also repeated their success of 2015 by rearing a single chick again this year.
Lakenheath isn’t the only site in the fens that has had success with cranes breeding this year.
Not to be outdone, the RSPB’s Nene Washes nature reserve just to the east of Peterborough has also had three young cranes fledge from two pairs this summer, with a third pair unfortunately failing in their breeding attempt this time around.
Lakenheath’s cranes will soon be leaving the reserve to join others in the wider fens area to feed and roost together over the winter.
They may even join up with the cranes at the Nene Washes, where flocks gather regularly throughout winter.
For the chance to see cranes in the Nene Washes this winter, it is a short walk from the RSPB car park at Eldernell to the raised bank from which the best views are usually to be had.
Those planning a trip to RSPB Nene Washes need to come prepared however, as the site is without any visitor facilities.
For more information, call 01733 205140 or visit www.rspb.org.uk/nenewashes.
RSPB Lakenheath Fen is open at all times. The visitor centre and toilets are open daily 9am to 5pm.
For more information, call 01842 863400, email lakenheath@rspb.org.uk, or visit www.rspb.org.uk/lakenheathfen. Crane Facts: 1. The Eurasian crane is one of Britain’s rarest breeding birds with only around 25 pairs nesting in the UK last year.
Cranes had been extinct in the UK as a breeding bird since the 1600s as a result of hunting and loss of habitat.
They re-colonised the Norfolk Broads in the 1970s and have gradually started breeding elsewhere in the UK ever since. www.rspb.org.uk/ crane
2. Two pairs of cranes arrived at Lakenheath Fen in 2007 and have nested on the reserve each year since then. In 2009 one of these pairs of cranes reared the first chick to fledging (able to fly) in the fens for more than 400 years.
Since 2009 the two pairs of cranes at Lakenheath Fen had reared a total of eight chicks and with these two new chicks that makes 10.
Cranes live on average between 20 to 25 years. They find a mate and start to breed at between three and five years of age.