Skye

Profile Picture and Leg Ring Combination Code

• Yellow
• Red
• Yellow

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:

June 2013: Skye adores the costumed parents, always following close at heel.  However - she is incredibly difficult to get to go back into its coop at night.  Skye is the sister of  Billy.  September 2013:  Skye was fitted with a leg mounted GPS tag, which she is taking a while to get used to. January 2014: Skye was released in mid September and quickly integrated with the older birds, spending the autumn foraging with the flock on West Sedgemoor, along the Stoke St. Gregory ridge, and the winter on splashy pasture land on Stanmoor near the village of Stoke St. Gregory. The deep and prolonged flooding that affected the Levels and Moors through December 2013 & January/Feb 2014 did not seem to have had much of an effect on the new cohorts' welfare or integration.  January 2015: Skye spent all of 2014 as an integral part of the non-breeding and non-moulting flock on the Levels and Moors and towards the tail end of the year was frequently seen feeding in with a group on Southlake and Aller Moors to the west of Langport.  Her leg-mounted GPS tag sadly failed shortly after release. July 2015: : The spring of 2015 saw Skye hook up with Stanley a male crane from the same cohort.  They spent the spring moving between Somerset and Slimbridge and also visiting Coombe Hill Meadows reserve in Gloucestershire where they were photographed.  By July they were back on the Somerset Levels and Moors. They are perhaps a pair to watch in 2016 as they seem keen to get on with becoming adult birds.  February 2016: The two birds spent all the autumn and winter of 2015/16 on the Somerset Levels and Moors spending time in the main flock largely on Wetmoor, Aller moor, and West Sedgemoor. They may soon head off to find a breeding location of their own - fingers crossed for this pair in 2016. July 16: There is no evidence of either pairing or nestpreparationthis season.  Nov 17:  There is no evidence of either pairing or nest preparation this season.  She was seen with the Somerset flock early in the season but not since April.  Reported with the flock in October.   Sept 18:  No evidence of breeding attempts and has not been sighted since December 2017.    Sept 2019: Recorded as being identified in Jan 2019 but there is some doubt about this – other than this record not been seen for over a year.  No sign during breeding season, and not re-sighted to date.  

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Photos of Skye

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