The rare South African national bird.

I heard that familiar croaking call and rushed outside. But there was nothing and something told me to wait.

Source

So I waited and the next moment they appeared high up in the sky. It was the parents with their youngster. I was thrilled to see them and to please me they made a few turns up high. They have a very distinct call that is not repeated by any other bird and when I heard the first call inside our house, I knew immediately what it was. Blue Cranes!

You can read more about this fascinating bird HERE

Oh, I so wished that you could see this.

Like I said, they were very high up, but luckily not beyond my zoom.

This is the sad story below about the decline of the birds.

While it remains common in parts of its historic range, and approx. 26 000 individuals remain, it began a sudden population decline from around 1980 and is now classified as vulnerable.

In the last two decades, the blue crane has largely disappeared from the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, and Swaziland. The population in the northern Free State, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West Province has declined by up to 90%. The majority of the remaining population is in eastern and southern South Africa, with a small and separate population in the Etosha Pan of northern Namibia. Occasionally, isolated breeding pairs are found in five neighbouring countries.

The primary causes of the sudden decline of the blue crane are human population growth, the conversion of grasslands into commercial tree plantations, and poisoning: deliberate (to protect crops) or accidental (baits intended for other species, and as a side-effect of crop dusting).
The South African government has stepped up legal protection for the blue crane. Other conservation measures are focusing on research, habitat management, education, and recruiting the help of private landowners.
Source

I have posted some Blue Cranes before and even a pair in the act of mating, but I have never seen them like this in their neat and majestic flight.

Sadly these beautiful birds are rated as endangered and we only have about 26,000 of them left. The good thing is that there are some blue crane projects with the focus on increasing their numbers.

Finally at the last turn they fanned out in line, to take the long flight over the mountain to the Overberg.

Just imagine how it was a few decades ago when the skies were filled with huge flocks of blue cranes. But the same as the thousands of elephants, blue wildebeest and lions, most of them are gone. I think that there is maybe one elephant left in the Knysna forest. They roamed in their hundreds in a valley where the town of Franschhoek is situated today.
Always a sad thing to see how the numbers of birds and animals are dwindling. But of course, humans and wild dangerous animals cannot live in the same area and so the animals have to go.
I think that I was born too late, as I so would have liked to see clouds of birds and great numbers of wild animals cruising around and doing their thing in total freedom.
Just my own thoughts here.

I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and maybe the story.

And That's All Friends.

Photos, (except the Sourced one) by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

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