When my phone went at 2.05 - Yvonne had got the elusive Shropshire Crane at Whixall Moss!! After expressing - nice one, well done, (here I was 60 miles away) pleeeeeeease nail the bugger down while I carefully drive over - I did. Capt. James T Kirk would have been proud of me and a few minutes later..... there I was making a long overdue acquaintance with said Crane!
(The 'pair' eluded me thoughout 2009 and this one had done so to date but now - gotcha!)
It was in the second field to the right from the bungalow at the Furbers access. Check out my birdmap for the exact location HERE Happily feeding......
....but nevertheless had an alert, nervous look about it and wisely - we all kept to the main access path to the Moss and settled for the 200m distant view (it's a BIG bird after all!)
We never heard a Crane call before - until now.... Crikey, a would be partner would soon home in on that.....
A pity it hadn't chosen a nearer fence post but a nearby Kestrel was busy dispatching a rodent for tea.....
After an hour or so, we decided to give the Mosses a go for Harrier or Shortie - it didn't happen! Just as the light was really fading - a large shape loomed over the distant trees and flew (still calling) down the middle of the Moss.
It landed just over the border on the Fenns side virtually in the middle, clearly in a wet flush as the resident ducks went crazy and departed....... So did we.
