For many visitors experiencing birds such as bearded reedlings, avocets and turtle doves up close and personal' is something really special. Pensthorpe allows you to really get close up and encourages people to really get to grips with the live stories of many bird species and to take an interest in birdwatching, a hobby accessible to everyone. Habitat creation at Pensthorpe has involved careful attention to detail, such as varying levels of shorelines and depths in the lakes, and a wader scrape where water levels can be manipulated to allow seasonal flooding, which helps provide suitable breeding habitat for birds such as avocets, lapwings and redshanks. Bird conservation is under the careful wing of the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust (PCT) whose work includes hand rearing increasingly rare species such as corncrakes, cranes, lapwings and redshanks. The PCT plays a key role in a corncrake release programme, working closely with the RSPB and other bodies such as Natural England and the Zoological Society of London. The Pensthorpe Conservation Centre provides a special home for a regionally important collection of bird species and incorporates a Cranery, which houses 8 out of the worlds' 15 species of cranes, over half of these species are endangered or threatened. The PCT is concentrating its conservation work on helping these birds and now works with East African and West African Crowned Cranes, Stanley, Sandhill and Manchurian Cranes as well as Eurasian and Demoiselle Cranes.
Click here for the Pensthorpe web site....
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