WHERE TO SEE COMMON CRANES IN BRITAIN

PLEASE avoid disturbing the birds and observe COVID-19 restrictions if planning to see cranes at the following sites:

• Hickling Broad and Stubb Mill (pictured), Norfolk: the best place in Britain to see Common Crane; arrive a couple of hours before dusk in winter to see raptors and owls as well.

• Lakenheath Fen, Suffolk: all-year round from the Joist Fen Viewpoint.

• Nene Washes RSPB, Cambridgeshire: 78 have been counted this winter, with up to five pairs breeding.

• West Sedgmoor RSPB, Somerset: reintroduced birds can be seen all year from the River Parrett Trail or Fivehead Ridge.

• Humberhead Peatlands NNR, South Yorkshire: several individuals may be seen in the area all year round.

• Loch of Strathbeg RSPB, Aberdeenshire: while local breeding sites are kept strictly secret, post-breeding congregations of up to 17 birds can be seen in late summer and early autumn.

For more sites to see Common Crane, see Where to Watch Birds in East Anglia by David Callahan (Christopher Helm, 2020, £25) – buy from the Bookshop: www.birdguides.com/bookshop.