A sad day for all at the Great Crane Project

 Monty with his chick. Photo - Graham Hann.

I am very sorry to post that Monty and Chris’ second chick disappeared from sight last night and we can only assume that sadly, it has died.  There are many risks to chicks of this age and the outcome is not completely unexpected, as it is more usual for crane chicks to die rather survive.   However - it would be fair to say that all of us at the project are gutted.  For the last 2 years Chris & Monty have nested at the Slimbridge Wetland Centre reserve, sadly losing their one chick to poor weather last year and this year these two – one at around 1 week old, and now this young bird at 20 days.  Five pairs held territories across the Somerset Levels this year too – with 2 going on to nest, but sadly losing their clutches – most likely to ground predators.

So - here’s to a successful 2015, when even more will be at breeding age -  and the population will be older and wiser. 

About the author

Damon’s role is to act as the hub of the project - making sure everyone involved knows what is going on and that it is all running smoothly. He is also responsible for project community awareness work in Somerset, construction of the release enclosure, and running the post release monitoring work in Somerset.  Damon works alongside the RSPB reserve teams in Somerset.