While working in the garden I could hear the familiar call of the cranes as they gathered overhead. It's a different call and it takes my brain a few minutes to recognize the call. I drop my weeder and gather my binoculars and camera and head towards the vegetable garden to get a better view.

The excitement of hearing these calls is indescribable .... as we know that from now on, they will gather in the marsh in the evening and leave in the morning. They may stay a couple of days to forage in nearby fields - until the winds are right for ketteling ...

At dawn, once the sun warms them we can hear their loud calls as they fly over the house to forage in nearby fields. In late afternoon they return to bed down in the marsh .... their calls sound like we're in Jurassic Park. This behaviour reminds me of the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ...

The kettling activity usually occurs on a cloudless day as northerly winds help them to lift off and head south ...

Safe journey little ones ....