The Crane Call

The keen-eyed treehouse guest or visitor may have noticed some new additions to the rewilding landscape in the form of some decoy cranes.

Briony and John have been working with the team at Celtic Rewilding to try to gently re-establish and reintroduce some rare species to Elmore, and cranes were first on our list. 
 

Why cranes?

The landscape at Elmore is ideal to attract 'common' cranes – we have the wetland habitat they are so fond of, and our proximity to Slimbridge WWT (worth a visit if you’ve never been) makes it a no-brainer.

Cranes are a fantastic flagship species for wetland restoration, as they symbolise the benefits of rewilding our wetlands. This bird is large, with a 7ft wingspan, and displays an iconic dance during the courtship season; if they were to be surmised in one word, it would be elegant. 

At the same time, common cranes help to plough different areas of ground allowing for different species of vegetation to thrive - which can affect the entire ecosystem's structure - admitting greater overall biodiversity. On crane ploughs there is a significant presence of insect-pollinated plants, which provide an important food source for pollinators such as bees. Not only is this wonderful for overall biodiversity and species conservation, but it also positively contributes to food production. Just a few weeks of crane ploughing can influence the vegetation structure for years to come. Cranes are also an endangered species due to declining habitats, which is another reason why we’d like to provide them a habitat here at Elmore. 

How do the decoys work?

There are different ways to either attract or reintroduce different species into a habitat. Crane are a relatively easy bird to attract using a wooden painted decoy. We have strategically positioned some across the landscape, and these trick the cranes into thinking there is already a population living here.

This shows them that the habitat is favourable, and the environment is safe, and they come to land and (hopefully) to stay. Over the next few months, we will also be working to make the habitat even more suitable by introducing some islands for the cranes to nest upon. This keeps them safe from predators such as foxes. 

As well as the decoy cranes, we also planted 30 Black Poplar saplings, largely in the portion of landscape that is visible from the treehouses. 

According to the Forestry Commission, Black Poplar is the UK’s most endangered native tree. They used to be ubiquitous in the wetter habitats, across Britain, and the wood is rather unique in that it doesn’t burn. This led to it being commonly used to make fire-proof chests for valuables as well as floorboards, but it became a declining species when its usefulness dwindled with the advent of more modern materials to take its place. There are only around 7000 wild Black Poplar in the UK and of these only 600 are female trees. This leads further to the decline of the species as it is unlikely that such a small number will be able to pollinate each other. This is why planting saplings is so important. 

Black Poplar are a valuable habitat for the caterpillars of many moths, and the catkins provide an early source of pollen and nectar for bees (I don't know whether they do). The seeds also provide a good quality food source for birds. 

Black Poplar grows best in boggy conditions, near ditches and floodplains. That makes the rewilding land here at Elmore the perfect conditions for them to thrive, and we are excited to be reintroducing such a rare and ecologically valuable tree back into the landscape and to watch them change and grow, and we hope you will be too.