Over the weekend hundreds of Demoiselle Crane were seen leaving Akrotiri Salt Lake and heading north to their breeding grounds of central Eurasia. We always get some on their return passage in late August early September – again mainly at Akrotiri Salt Lake. But such large numbers in spring are very unusual as they probably pass over without the need to rest here. We usually see a few single or double figure flocks each spring. It seems as if the bad storms of the weekend force them to land and rest as it did in March 2012.

I was lucky enough to be at Akrotiri yesterday morning and watch a group of around 90 birds feeding and getting ready to leave – which they did around 9:30 am.