We’ve had some truly exciting news from the reserve – and it comes with feathers! Thanks to our ongoing partnership with Askham Bryan College, one of their camera traps caught something very special: a common crane, from back in June.
Now, despite its name, the common crane is anything but common here. In fact, this is the first confirmed sighting in North Yorkshire for six years! The bird was spotted on The Island – and as luck would have it, our resident nature surveyor, Dave Watkins, had also been recording bird calls around the same time. When he listened back, there it was: the unmistakable call of a crane, captured the very next day after the sighting.
It seems this was a lone traveller, just passing through, but what a privilege to know that Townend Field is a place where such rare and magnificent species can stop and rest. Moments like this remind us why protecting the reserve is so important – for wildlife of all shapes and sizes.
Who knows what we’ll see next?
