In October 2008, my friend Jan and I went with some friends for a few days to Stralsund at the island of Rügen in the North of Germany.

This place is famous during autumn migration for its large population of Common Cranes which can reach easily 40,000 individuals. Basically all of the Scandinavian crane population cross the Baltic Sea from Southern Sweden into this part of Germany to stay here for a few weeks to feed and prepare for their journey to the wintering areas in Spain and Morocco.

They even have a Crane Information Center where you can closely watch the cranes feeding in the stubblefields and get all kinds of information about cranes and their protection projects.