The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
There’s delight for local bird watchers as common cranes at a South Holland nature reserve have new chicks.
The birds bred for the first time in the Lincolnshire Fens in around 400 years in 2020.
They returned to Willow Tree Fen near Tongue End in 2021, but the chicks died that year following a spell of bad weather.
This year they’re back again and volunteers that oversee the reserve observed one chick for the first time on Saturday before a second was spotted the following day.
Willow Tree Fen was completely closed off to protect the cranes when they arrived in 2020, but a new viewing area so the public can see the wildlife on show opened recently.
A spokesman for the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Our amazing volunteers are keeping an eye on the chicks and opening up the site for visitors every day from 9am until 9pm.
“Although we do have a few empty slots on the rota and have put a call out for new volunteers to join the crane watch team.
More information about what’s involved in volunteering is here: https://www.lincstrust.org.uk/volunteering-opportunities/crane-watch-volunteer
