Safe journey little crane!

For the little cranes the first migration is perhaps the biggest challenge of their life. Those, who do not have enough energy reserves, can fall by the wayside and lose touch.

This is what recently happened in the surroundings of Cologne. A young crane was weakened so that his wings failed and he had to stay on the ground. Left alone he was quite lucky under the circumstances and found his way to the wild bird habilitation station Kirchwald via the regional bird of prey aid (Bergische Greifvogelhilfe). The impressive bird had to be fed by infusion here. The professional help and his strong will to survive allowed him to recover within four weeks and to regain his normal weight.

But where should the crane, which was only in transition, go now? Dr. Günter Nowald of Crane Conservation Germany provided advice and established the contact to Hermann Dirks, Member of the Crane Conservation working group of Lower Saxony. Dirks was able to find a suitable spot for the return in the fen of Diepholz (Diepholzer Moorniederung), Europe’s third largest crane resting area.

So Miriam and Nathan Krish Thavarajah of the wild bird habilitation station Kirchwald together with their foster child set out for the Eifel in direction of the fen of Diepholz. Back in the wild the young crane was heading straight for a group of resting cranes. The crane’s friends are now hoping that the young crane will join the others and so survive the winter.

Many thanks to these committed crane’s friends!