Shadow

Profile Picture and Leg Ring Combination Code

• Green
• Red
• Blue

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:

September 2012: At Slimbridge, Shadow was always a bit of a loner, randomly displaying aggression at times but not consistently. He has always been very active and was one of the first to have a bath in the water channel, with the others soon following. He has adapted well to life in Somerset, quickly becoming at home in the release enclosure, using the water channels for a regular baths. On release day, his ability to fly out of the pen caught him a little unawares, and he ended up needing to be rounded up and walked back into the enclosure. He has continued to fly well though and is coping really well in the wild. January 2013: As autumn turned into winter, the cranes began to flock together to look for food, which they found in plentiful supply in the form of maize left in fields post-harvest. All 48 have been spending most of their time either feeding in the maize stubbles or on Stanmoor, completely unperturbed by the surrounding floodwater.  January 2014:  2013 was quite uneventful for Shadow.  The spring and summer were spent split between Aller Moor and West Sedgemoor, and as the autumn drew on, feeding was amongst the flock along the Stoke St. Gregory Ridge, and on Stanmoor.  With the deep and prolonged flooding of December and January, the group remained on Stanmoor which was relatively flood-free, feeding in waterlogged fields on worms.  July 2015: Spring saw Shadow making some advances on Gemma (2010 female)  before she flew off to Slimbridge in the company of other birds, and he spent the summer and autumn on the Somerset Levels and Moors with the main non-breeding flock.  Winter of 2014/15 was largely uneventful, and spring 2015 saw him forming some possible pair bonds with Squidgy (2010 female)  before she too set her sights for Slimbridge leaving him alone in Somerset. He remains unpaired.  We wish him better luck at finding a mate in 2016. February 2016: Shadow remained in Somerset all autumn and winter.  He is having a little problem shedding his back-pack, the straps of which have been dangling below his body and between his legs for the autumn.  Whether this is stopping him from pairing up remains to be seen - but he doesn't appear to be paired with any particular bird - (yet!)  July 16: Remained in Somerset, setting up territory in February on Walton Moor, North Somerset with Cherry and performing mating rituals but there is no evidence of nesting this season.   Nov 17:  Remained  in Somerset, setting up territory on Kingsmoor, Somerset  in mid March.  Often seen in the same area as Alexander and Waterwing.  This pair were suspected of nesting in April but seem to have abandoned their first nest .  In May they were seen nest building and incubation was confirmed soon after.   On 9^th June they were seen with a chick.  By mid June the chick had disappeared and the pair were not seen again in the area.  It is not known why the chick died.  Shadow rejoined the flock in the Autumn.   Sept 18:  Shadow was seen with mate Christmas Shoes in January and February and later on Kingsmoor during April.  Incubation thought to have started around the end of April as Christmas shoes was observed feeding on her own on 4th May.  After that it was difficult to assess what was going on.  Evidence suggests a nesting attempt must have failed at egg stage.       Sept 2019: Observed together on Kingsmoor in April and then just one of them feeding so possible incubation started 26^th April.  However, in mid-May they were seen feeding together without chicks. In August they were observed with the flock on Aller moor, Somerset.    2020:  Observed on Kingsmoor in March with Christmas Shoes. Just one of the two birds observed feeding -  so possible incubation around 13^th March.  Soon after they were together again so if it was a nesting attempt, it failed early on.  Shadow has been observed with the flock on West Sedgemoor during the Autumn.  Sept 2021:  Shadow and Christmas were observed in the Kingsmoor area, Somerset Levels and Moors very occasionally but breeding activity was difficult to assess. Eventually they were seen with two chicks on 28th June.  On 2nd July the chicks were still with parents and they fledged towards the end of August. The family was observed on W Sedgemoor with the flock in September.  Autumn 2022:   Shadow and Christmas were observed on their territory in the Kingsmoor area, Somerset Levels and Moors very occasionally, but breeding activity was difficult to assess.  It is suspected that they did make an attempt because at times one of them was seen feeding alone.  They were observed very seldom but without juveniles so any breeding attempt failed.

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Photos of Shadow

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