Somerset Wildlife

All 34 Somerset Cranes have been spending much of their time of late out feeding on Aller Moor.  The have been quite easily observable from the Parrett Trail Footpath feeding in fields out on the moor over a range of habitats including grassland and suupplementary sacrificial crops left by farmers for them.

  Cranes bugling in barley.

It's not just the Cranes, however, which have benefited from this extra food source - Roe Deer and thousands of Starlings have been seen feeding in the Barley alongside the Cranes, and many other species have been using the cover for feeding on other seeds, hunting insects, or each-other!  These include Skylarks, Fieldfares, Redwings, Peregrines, Meadow Pippits, a Short-Eared Owl, a Ring-Tailed Hen Harrier and Brown Hares. A veritable plethora of species!

Starling on Aller Moor

Ring-Tailed Hen Harrier on Aller Moor

Cranes and Starlings on Aller Moor

About the author

Amy King and Harry Nevard are the 2011 crane parents and their roles are to rear and nurture the young cranes to adulthood. Amy has previously worked on the cranes in 2010 and Harry has worked with Sarus and Brolgas in Australia and cranes and crakes at Pensthorpe. Prior to Harry's involvement Roland Digby worked on the cranes for the first year of the project.