Flying elegantly and loudly, the beautiful cranes fly from their wintering grounds in Extremadura in Spain to breeding grounds in Sweden, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands – where there were more than forty breeding pairs last year.
In favorable conditions (easterly wind, not too heavy, dry weather) you know as a crane observer: then you have to go to South Limburg, one of the areas usually in the middle of the path that the cranes follow.
“Kranovel”
Harm Blom is not only a Biesbosch daily forester, but also – as he calls it – a cranium. This week, he can be found every day on a hill near Eys in southern Limburg – just like dozens of other avid crane-watchers. “Every spring, but also in the fall, I start itching, wanting to see them. It’s the tension: Will they fly over exactly where you are, and how many there will be? And if you’re lucky, usually at the end in the afternoon, you’re rewarded with groups of cranes flying by.” A V, and then that sound…that’s what you do it for,” he says.
Unfortunately for reporter Henny Radstack, the Cranes could not be seen or heard. But the forest ranger and “Cranophile” Harm Bloom were really lucky the next day. He recorded himself with his phone. The wind is heard in the microphone, but also the beautiful voice of the crane:
