Crane, the proud king of the swamps

Crane, the proud king of the swamps, has arrived in Finland. I have tried to photograph crane many years, but usually it has been too far away for my 70-200 mm lens. This year I was lucky and found these two feeding cranes in Kopparnäs on very beautiful spring day in April.

Crane arrives in Finland during April

Usually cranes arrive in April. This year I saw first cranes mid of March and big flogs arrived 7th of April. That 7th day of April was warm and sunny, tailwind helped cranes migration to the western part of Finland. During one hour there were 300-400 cranes flying in the sky towards north. If you are lucky you can see over 10 000 cranes migrating during one day. That is a lot!

By the way, did you know that cranes in the western half of Finland move from southwestern Europe and the eastern half from southeastern Europe and northeastern Africa, Ethiopia and Sudan. I did not know that earlier, but learned it while writing my crane post.

The long legs of the crane slam backwards in flight, extending largely over the rather short tail. During the flight the long neck is straight. These attributes helps to recognize flying cranes from geese, swans and storks.

Crane nests in swamps

Crane nests in a variety of swamps and wetlands. In Southern Finland, crane has had to adapt to new habitats due to the lack of open swamps. It nests in reed beds of bays and lakes, even in the small ponds and on the outskirts of forests.

Crane eats frogs, rodents and other small animals as well as plant shoots, roots, berries and grains. During the migration, large flocks gather to rest and dine in the peaceful, traditional fields and swamps.

Kopparnäs

If you are interested in Kopparnäs, you can read more about it in my previous post Beautiful landscapes and fighting swans in Kopparnäs. Right now Kopparnäs is very popular place for people to visit as Finland’s most populous region, Uusimaa, has been cordoned off from the rest of the country since 28 March. So during weekends there might be some traffic jam.

Take care and stay healthy ❤️