A SHORT video capturing the flight of the cranes, or les grues, as they head south for winter shows them passing over Saint-Cernin-de-l’Herm here in the south of the Dordogne.
The clip shows them high in the sky in the early evening, and for many it marks the arrival of winter as the birds head towards southern Spain and north Africa.
It is estimated that there are around 160,000 birds in the west of Europe and when migrating fly at an altitude of between 200m and 1km.
The map above shows recent observations of les grues across France, the darker blue showing increased activity, and for more details take a look at the European Crane Working Group.