First crane gatherings
Cranes {Grus grus)
From the cycle - Birds of Europe. You can see more my photos from this cycle by entering "Pawel's Birds of Europe" in the search box.
Cranes inhabit the northern and central parts of Eurasia. They spend the summer there, and in the fall they depart for wintering sites in southern Europe and North Africa. During their migratory flights to wintering sites, they gather at the staging sites where they rest and feed in the middle of their migration.
Autumn crane gatherings are one of the most spectacular spectacles in the bird world. Birds arriving at the staging sites, often hundreds or even thousands of cranes, are heard even from a distance of several kilometers. Their voice is called a clangor and it is impossible to confuse it with any other sound. Birds prefer to spend the night in the shallows of water reservoirs, peat bogs and wet meadows. Shortly after sunrise, they scatter towards the feeding grounds, to gather again in the evening. In autumn, the birds gather in flocks from mid-July to November, sometimes even longer - until the first major frosts. After this period, the birds depart for wintering sites.
The photo shows one of the first summer bird gatherings. Birds come to this place every evening, usually after dark, to spend the night here. They stand all night in the shallow water of a vast peatbog. In the early morning, they depart for feeding grounds. At this time of the year, the day is still long, so there is a chance to photograph the cranes illuminated by the rays of the rising sun, which I managed to do that day.
Now there aren't many birds yet. But with each passing day there will be more of them, and in October there will be thousands of them here.
First crane gatherings
Cranes {Grus grus)
From the cycle - Birds of Europe. You can see more my photos from this cycle by entering "Pawel's Birds of Europe" in the search box.
Cranes inhabit the northern and central parts of Eurasia. They spend the summer there, and in the fall they depart for wintering sites in southern Europe and North Africa. During their migratory flights to wintering sites, they gather at the staging sites where they rest and feed in the middle of their migration.
Autumn crane gatherings are one of the most spectacular spectacles in the bird world. Birds arriving at the staging sites, often hundreds or even thousands of cranes, are heard even from a distance of several kilometers. Their voice is called a clangor and it is impossible to confuse it with any other sound. Birds prefer to spend the night in the shallows of water reservoirs, peat bogs and wet meadows. Shortly after sunrise, they scatter towards the feeding grounds, to gather again in the evening. In autumn, the birds gather in flocks from mid-July to November, sometimes even longer - until the first major frosts. After this period, the birds depart for wintering sites.
The photo shows one of the first summer bird gatherings. Birds come to this place every evening, usually after dark, to spend the night here. They stand all night in the shallow water of a vast peatbog. In the early morning, they depart for feeding grounds. At this time of the year, the day is still long, so there is a chance to photograph the cranes illuminated by the rays of the rising sun, which I managed to do that day.
Now there aren't many birds yet. But with each passing day there will be more of them, and in October there will be thousands of them here.