Feathered Friends: Farmers and 30,000 cranes make peace next to a warzone

In the Hula Lake Park, Northern Israel, farmers have enforced a method to coexist with the common crane to avoid their crops being eaten.

These cranes are native to Northern Europe and Russia, and previously migrated down into Africa for the winter.

However, due to the plentiful stock of farmers' crops, they began stopping in Northern Israel to indulge on the accessible food supply.

Foreseeing disaster, local farmers worked with environmental agencies to allocate a portion of their fields during the migration months. They spread eight tons of maize a day to deter the cranes from eating their precious crops.

The common crane is widely acknowledged as a shy animal, which means seeing 30,000 of these timid birds at once in the Hula Lake Park is a spectacle for tourists.

British wildlife photographer, David Tipling visited the marsh in January 2016 to witness the pandemonium himself.

He said: “Because these normally super shy birds are used to the tractors spreading maize, tourists can sit on trailers towed by the tractors and enjoy really close encounters.

“I spent six days photographing the cranes. Each morning I was transported out to their overnight roosting lake in the tractor, and then waited in the dark for dawn.

“As dawn broke, increasing numbers of cranes started to call excitedly before lifting off in groups to fly the short distance to the marsh where they were fed.

“The sound of 30,000 cranes all trumpeting from just a few metres away is extraordinary to witness.”