Stanley

Profile Picture and Leg Ring Combination Code

• Yellow
• Green
• 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: Stanley is a fairly aggressive bird when food is involved and can be quite a bully, but becomes calmer once full.  He is the sibling of Excalibird, his sister.  January 2014: Stanley 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 the winter 2013/14 did not seem to have had much of an effect on the new cohorts' welfare or integration. January 2015: Stanley 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. July 2015: The spring of 2015 saw Stanley form a pair bond with Skye, a female 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.  UPDATE: FEB 29th 2016 -  Very sadly, Stanley was found dead in Gloucestershire having collided with a barbed wire fence.  This is a very sad end for a wonderful bird.  

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Photos of Stanley

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