(photo: Grahame Madge RSPB)
In the Middle Ages cranes were served at royal banquets – along with herons, bitterns and spoonbills. But as their habitat shrank they disappeared from the menu and from Britain. Since the early 1980s a small group of cranes has gradually became established in the Norfolk Broads. This year brings fantastic news – juvenile cranes have been seen in Lakenheath Fen nature reserve in Suffolk, which before recent restoration was an area of carrot fields. The next step in the Great Crane Project is to re-introduce the species to the Somerset Levels. More at the RSPB