The Nordic Ark, July 12th 2008. Part Nineteen

The rest of the Wetlands consists of a large open grassy area with some ponds etc which is partly not in use (I guess they're planning on getting in more birds over time) and partly is taken up be enclosures for various bird species that prefer habitats near water.

The Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), also known as the Japanese crane, is the second rarest crane in the world. Its status is endangered; there are only about 1500 specimens left in the wild, 2/3 of those in China. It's an important species in the mythology of both Japan and China. The Ark has two of these birds, I assume it's a breeding pair.

This species (Homo sapiens sapiens) was seen all over the park. It was easy to spot. It usually exhibited its natural behavior, but occasionally mimicked the behavior of other species.

The park also has some specimens of the White-Naped Crane (Grus vipio) which is native to the northeast of China and Mongolia, and is also found in southeastern Russia. About 5 000 are left in the wild. I hope I've got a picture to post ... :-)

PHOTO COMING UP, I HOPE ... :-)

Some geese (Lesser white-fronted geese, Anser erythropus) were sunning themselves, swimming and fighting in and around their pretty pond.

The smaller Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) was kept in a drier enclosure. I wonder what was up with that. I guess it must live naturally in drier areas. The Wiki entry seems to indicate that.

(Photo credit: top two: KAS; bottom two: me)