Country diary: The sound of thousands of cranes is truly oceanic | Mark Cocker

Hortobágy, Hungary: Their sheer size is striking enough, but the noise is something else, especially when they gather in huge migratory flocksWith a standing height of 1.4 metres, common cranes are Europe’s tallest birds and at this famous national park they collect in astonishing numbers as they migrate.The autumn count is 180,000, although the only accessible spot to see them supports a sub-roost of 50,000. Each bird has a wingspan of 2 metres and the flight is slow and rhythmically precise. The visual effect of any large airborne congregation is at the scale of a whole landscape and its skies above. Continue reading...