The crane (Grus grus) is a very large bird – the tallest species in Europe – so you’d think it would be easy to find. But the RSPB reserve at West Sedgemoor is not only very large, but out of bounds to visitors, making my task a lot trickier.
Fortunately, the viewpoint at the nearby Swell Wood reserve allows me to scan across this vast wetland. And usually, after a few minutes or so, I am able to pick up a pair or two of these stately waterbirds, feeding in one of the waterlogged fields below.
Standing tall and proud, their feathers sticking out behind like a Victorian lady’s bustle, they look almost human. Perhaps that’s why cranes are so revered in cultures all over the world.
For more than four centuries, after they were driven out by the draining of wetlands and hunting for medieval feasts, cranes were only an occasional visitor to Britain. But in the late 1970s they returned to the Norfolk Broads, establishing a small breeding population.
The cranes here in Somerset were reintroduced a decade ago and are thriving. Seeing them take to the air, while uttering their haunting, echoing calls, reinforces the importance of restoring these wetlands and bringing back the birds that used to live here so long ago.
