Cranes going the wrong way? (1 Viewer)

[Dromo]

We live near Aix-en-Provence in SE France. In the autumn, we regularly see flocks of migrating cranes flying over the house. Not enormous numbers, maybe up to a hundred at a time. They are moving along a NE-SW axis which is consistent with them coming from central Europe and heading for Spain and thence to Africa. In the spring, we see them going in the opposite direction. Yesterday, however, we were surprised to see a flock of about thirty birds travelling in the 'autumn' direction, NE-SW. Seeing that we are now almost at the end of winter and into spring (10 February), it seems to me that this flock was going in the wrong direction. Any explanations for this?

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I think the most likey explanation is the extreme cold and snow across much of central Europe at the moment. I assume they are moving south from regular wintering areas e.g. in northern France.

 

[Dromo]

I think you're right. I just remembered that there is a site dedicated to the cranes of the Lac du Der en Champagne and the whole story is there. I don't know if you can read French but I will put the link at the bottom of this post. Right now it seems that chaos reigns as, because of the weather conditions, there are cranes flying in both directions.

https://champagne-ardenne.lpo.fr/gr...es-grues-cendrees-au-jour-le-jour#prettyPhoto