The Crane is the messenger of spring
and Lake Hornborga provides a resting place for
large flocs of cranes - a gracious bird which
fascinates every visitor.
The lake
is once again a fantastic bird lake
following extensive restoration work which has been recreated
what previous drainage projects destroyed.
The European crane - Grus grus in latin - is our largest bird of passage.
It weighs between four and seven kilograms and is about 120 cm tall.
Coming in from southwest, with strong winds, from Rugen
Island in Germany.
Notice more coming in lower right 'corner'.
The male has a wing span of 250 cm.
Two and a half meter or about 100 inches. Nearly 3 yards.
In the world as a whole, there are 14 species of crane.
The male and the female have the same markings,
but the female is usually slightly smaller.
Cranes can live to a maximum age of 25-30 years.
They are ready to breed when they are between three and four years of age.
They often glide long distances while migrating
and can maintain a speed of 65-70 km/hour.
Every spring, more than 10.000 cranes rest at Lake Hornborga.
Most of them spend the winter in Extremadura in southern Spain.
They begin returning to Lake Hornborga in mid-March.
Their journey takes them through France and the Rhine Valley.
Their last stop before Lake Hornborga is the island of Rügen in northern
Germany.
The number of cranes reaches its peak between 5-10 April
(previously 10-20 April) when there are 7.000 to 12.700 cranes
at Naturum Trandansen at Bjurum, at the southern end of the lake.
Visitors have a wonderful view of the cranes' resting and feeding places
from this point.
The cranes choose Lake Hornborga because of the plentiful access to food.
As a feeding point, Bjurum has a history dating back 200 years.
It's getting late, and darker.
Also the sunsets are fascinating here at Lake Hornborga.
The cranes leave the feeding place
to hide somewhere out in the lake till next morning.
That is when they are counted - on their way out into the sea.
Within an hour more than 12.000 cranes lift and disappear from the scene.
Normally within an hour from about 7 PM to 8 PM.
