Wally

Profile Picture and Leg Ring Combination Code

• Red
• Yellow
• White

What is this?

Each crane has a unique combination of 3 coloured rings on their right leg. This marking code helps to identify the crane in the wild.

Character profile:

May 2011: Wally is Lofty’s sibling and hatched shortly after Lofty.  He is currently one of the biggest and boldest of the cranes having hatched with its sibling a clear four days ahead of the rest.  He is quite well-bonded with Lofty.  August 2011: Wally is still the largest bird, and although some have caught him up and tried for the position as leader of the group, he is still upholding top crane status! He likes to know everything that is going on with other birds and always follows us about if we are doing something unusual nearby. He is forming a strong

bond with his sibling Lofty and also with Albert. October 2011: Wally has turned into a very fine looking crane and is part of the large and fairly stable flock of cranes that has been foraging away on the Levels and Moors through the autumn. September 2012:  Wally has adapted well to life with the Somerset flock and he and his cohort are all behaving as naturally as any wild cranes.  They have spent the summer feeding on the un-seasonally flooded grasslands of the Moors and Levels in small fragmented groups, but as Autumn rolls in they are starting to flock again and follow the harvest, hoovering up any spilt and wasted grain in farmer's fields.  January 2014: 2013 was largely uneventful for Wally, spending the spring and summer on Aller Moor and West Sedgemoor and the winter very much as part of a tight-knit flock on Stanmoor, near Stoke-St.Gregory. We hope that he will pair up this year, although at 3 years old he is still very young to make a breeding attempt. August 2014: Wally appeared to be pairing up with Easter Beans during the early spring - but was then seen more in combination with Pippa and the 2010 male Cosmo, during April - mostly frequently on West Moor where he was seen regularly into May.  He appears to have remained single - and we are pretty sure he went into moult on West Sedgemoor - disappearing for a while before reappearing in mid July.  July 2015: Wally spent the autumn and winter of 2014/15 with the main Somerset flock but by early March it was clear that he was paired up with Easter Beans, a female from the 2012 release year.  In early April 2015 the pair turned up on private land near Templecoombe on the Somerset/Dorset border.  The pair appeared to hold a territory there but are not known to have made a breeding attempt.  They came back to the Levels in mid May – but were once again seen in the east Somerset area towards the end of the month.   February 2016: Wally was seen on an off through the winter of 2015/16 on the Somerset Levels and Moors - but undetected in December and January.  He could still be around - but perhaps he is off exploring? Easter Beans - his partner from 2015 - however, was seen in mid January.  Time will tell with this pair.  July 16: There were unconfirmed reports that this pair had returned to land near Templecombe in East Somerset. On 30 th March they were seen on West Sedgemoor with a group of non-breeding birds. There has been no evidence of nesting attempts reported.  Nov 17:  In late April  Easter Beans was seen with Wally in the flock.  Seen later in the year with the flock.

Sept 18:    Wally paired with Easter and took up territory on West Sedgemoor in April.   Mating witnessed and incubation started 24th April but failed on 25th April.  Observed mating on 26th April.  Incubation of 2^nd nest  started on 11th May. Nest failed 16th May.  The pair continued to occupy their territory but no further nesting attempts were made.   Wally was found dead on the Reserve on 9th August - cause unknown. 

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Photos of Wally

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