Damon Bridge's blog

The Great Crane Project has been working with a farming family near Cossington, on Somerset Levels and Moors to convert an 18th century duck decoy and Scheduled Ancient Monument, into a potential crane breeding zone.  

   Starting to fill up through the sluice.

 Yellow Red Yellow enjoying its first taste of freedom.

In the week that saw the Voyager spacecraft leave the Solar system and become the first ever man-made object to enter inter-stellar space  -  a similar epic moment has occured here on the Levels and Moors.

 Mr Mitchell with work just starting on the new wetland zone.

Work has started this week on the creation of a brandnew 12.5ha block of wetland on private land at the heart of the Levels and Moors.

 Blue Red Yellow "VIRIDOR" checking out her new surroundings.

 The transport crates all ready....

The cranes have now all been ringed,  we have the all-clear from the blood tests, the Somerset pen is all up and ready, and the birds are good to be transported down to Somerset first thing tomorrow morning.  

Exciting times!   

  Some legs! Bird Green White Yellow - or D1

Spent a marvellous morning with the cranes and team at Slimbridge this week, taking the next batch of photos for the website.

  Blue White Yellow - B4

 The baby of the bunch - Black Green Yellow

I visited the team up at Slimbridge rearing the cranes on Friday.  The chicks are all doing really well - and looked in fine fettle.

  One of the noisiest ... begging away!

 With chick D6 - the youngest at 20 days old

  Typical summer roost site on the Levels & Moors

Some sad news I'm afraid.Monty and Chris - the pair of cranes that had been nesting up at Slimbridge have sadly lost their first chick 1-2 days after hatching.