Discovering the crane paradise Arjuzanx

Many of our cranes migrate to France or Spain to spend the cold winter months in good feeding conditions and milder weather. A popular wintering area is the Réserve d'Arjuzanx in the southwest of France.
 
Our colleague and photographer Kenneth Küper spent one week in this area and experienced a dreamlike atmosphere at a small roost site one morning. He enthusiastically recounted: "We felt like we were in paradise during the three hours of our morning observation. And we were lucky, because the cranes did not leave their roost immediately with the sunrise, but stayed in the water. So they were beautifully illuminated by the sun and the still air conditions provided a great reflection on the mirror-smooth surface of the water."
 
Incidentally, the number of cranes in the Réserve d'Arjuzanx has already declined significantly: While more than 16,000 cranes were still present at the beginning of February, only about 7,000 could be counted on 13/02. So it is not very surprising that there is already a lot of crane traffic over Germany!
 
By the way, you can always find the current crane numbers at the European resting places here.