Crane dance at Lake Hornborga
Every spring, more than 10 000 cranes rest at Lake Hornborga. Most of them spend the winter in Extremadura in southern Spain. They begin in returning to Lake Hornborga in mid-March. Their journey takes them through France and the Rhine Valley. Their last stop before Lake Hornborga is the island of Rügen in northen Germany. The number of cranes reaches its peak between 10-20 April when there are 5000 to 7000 cranes at Naturum Trandansen at Bjurum, at the southern part of the lake.
Visitors have a wonderful view of the cranes resting and feeding places from this point.
The cranes choose Lake Hornborga because of the plentiful access to food.
As a feeding point, Bjurum has a history dating back 200 years. What first attracted the cranes was the large potato fields which previously dominated area. They were closely associated with the production of snaps at the castles of Dagsnäs and Stora Bjurum. The last distillery closed at the beginning of the 1970s and the cultivation of potatoes ceased.
Support feeding with potatoes continued for a number of years in the 1970s and 1980s. The potato has now been replaced with grain which a special machine spreads at the feeding place at Naturum Trandansen. This is done in the evenings when the cranes have flown into the lake to sleep. They sleep standing in the shallow waters a few kilometers from Naturum Trandansen.
Between one and three tonnes of grain are consumed every day, depending on the numbers of birds. This represents a total of 110 tonnes during the period
The cranes stay at Lake Hornborga for two to three weeks and then set of for their breeding grounds in different parts of Sweden. They breed throughout the country, from Skåne in the south to Norrland in the north, and return to the same place year after year.
For today´s crane count call +46 515 72 70 38 or visit www.hornborga.com
Click here for web cam
Open daily 2011
19 March 1 am - 5 pm
20 March- 25 March 10 am - 3 pm
26 March -13 April 9 am - 7 pm
14 April -25 April 10 am - 3 pm
14 April-19 April 10 am - 5 pm
Free entrance!
Parking:
Cars 20 SEK
Buses 100 SEK
The fee are payed in a parking meter with coins.
We can design a guided tour in consultation with you or your group. Give us a call (+46 500 491450). Approx SEK 900/hour
If you are in Skara or Falköping, it is really easy to get to the Crane dance - "Trandansen", which is on the road between the two towns. Keep an eye out for the signs between Bjurums kyrka (church) and Dagsnäs slott (castle).
From E20 when in Skara, turn towards Falköping.
Public transport
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