THE BIRDIE DANCE
Every year thousands of migrating cranes take a break beside a lake in west Sweden – and show off their dance moves. CHARLIE ELDER caught them in action
IHAVE come to rural west Sweden for the crowds. With its undulating fields, woodland and scattered farmsteads, this sparsely populated agricultural region of Scandinavia is somewhere you might choose to visit to get away from it all.
Yet I find myself gazing in wonder at a throng in front of me on the banks of Lake Hornborga: a bickering multitude thousands strong, jostling for space, filling the air with sound – and occasionally breaking into dance.
As densely packed as a beach in the Costa del Sol, the cacophonous congregation at this scenic spot is no human get-together, instead an immense assembly of cranes that gather on the lakeside every year during their long migration to rest and feed. More than that, they dance. Lake Hornborga lies north-east of Gothenburg, close to the town of Falköping. Driving from Landvetter Airport, and dropping my bags at my guest house Vilhelmsro Gårdscafe on the way, I waste no time in heading directly to the waterside nearby. In all it is just two hours by car from plane to crane.
I notice a few of the birds dotted about the fields as I approach the site, but you don’t have to be a birdwatcher to spot this large, long-legged species. Towering up to 1.3 metres high, they certainly stand out, with their elongated necks, black and white head stripes, grey plumage and bustle of feathers.
Nothing quite prepares you for the main event though, and turning off the road to the ‘trandansen’ (crane dance) arena I am faced with a wide expanse of wetland and grassland absolutely covered in common cranes – 19,500 of them to be precise, according to the daily count carried out by volunteers.
Amid the giant flock, courting pairs dance, reaffirming potentially life-long bonds with leaps and bows and bugle-blasts of noise. Their exuberant jumps and jerky neck thrusts might have a touch of ‘dad dancing’ about them, but they are such elegant birds that they carry off the moves in style.
“It’s a wonderful sight,” says guide Kent-Ove Hvaas.
“And the more you watch them over the years, the more you see how unique they all are as individuals in appearance and behaviour.”
The annual arrival of cranes has a special place in the hearts of Swedes, as a sign of spring and longer days ahead, and draws spectators from across the country and beyond. While it may well have occurred in this area for thousands of years, the modern phenomenon at Hornborga has its roots in a national taste for the vodka brännvin.
At one time potatoes were grown locally to create the Swedish spirit, and migrating cranes gradually developed an appetite for unharvested tubers left in the ground.
Their seasonal visits became such a popular sight that when the district distilleries shut down in the 1970s, the birds continued to be fed.
Today, up to 150 tonnes of grain are spread beside Lake Hornborga during spring, helping the birds, which spend the winter in Spain, refuel as they journey to breeding grounds further north.
This April a new national record was set when the daily tally peaked at an incredible 27,300 cranes.
If these sizeable avian travellers all lined up wingtip to wingtip, their combined two-metre wingspans would stretch for more than 30 miles. The shallow lake in which the birds roost at night is also a conservation success story.
It was drained for farmland in the mid-20th century but subsequently refilled by the 1990s in a major project to create a thriving wetland habitat.
The reserve is now home to dozens of breeding bird species, and there is every chance of spotting an osprey or white-tailed eagle. There are excellent facilities for visitors, including a comfortable crane viewing building and, on the far side of the 10km long stretch of water, an impressive nature centre with a café, exhibition, boardwalks through the reeds and observation hides.
“For a lot of Swedes seeing the crane dance is on their bucket list,” says Sofie Stålhand, Hornborga reserve centre manager.
The area celebrates the arrival of the cranes with a week-long festival. Much like the appearance of swallows and cuckoos in Britain, the coming of the cranes symbolises the start of spring.
“People don’t necessarily need to be interested in birds, but enjoy the sense spring is here,” says Jessica Bergstrand, of Visit Horborgasjön. “The crane is a bird for everyone as you don’t need to get up early to see them.
“They are large, easy to view and have a lot of character – added to which they dance!”
Between trips to local sights such as the ancient standing stones at Ekornavallen and the fascinating Kata Gård Viking tombs on a hillside overlooking the majestic Varnhem monastery church, I return time and again to marvel at the carnival of cranes, the exuberant celebration of life beside Lake Hornborga.
Gawky and raucous one moment, stately and serene the next, they are mesmerising to watch. Little wonder some people sleep in campervans overlooking the site, so they can savour the precious spectacle until the sun goes down, the birds head off to roost for the night, and the last dancer leaves the floor.