Stock Photo - 04 June 2022, Brandenburg, Königs Wusterhausen: Thomas Heinicke (l) and Michael Modrow, both from Crane Protection Germany, release two young cranes (Grus grus) back into the wild early this morning after ringing them. On the same morning, young cranes were captured and ringed in various breeding areas in Brandenburg on the southeastern border with Berlin. Between the towns of Storkow, Wildau and Rangsdorf, the married couple Nadja and Volker Fischer take care of the breeding territories. Here breed about 60 pairs of the gray crane, which is also called Eurasian crane. In 2021, just under 30 chicks were counted. Ringing the young cranes is a sporting affair. Only with a lot of experience can members cautiously sneak up on the birds, then in a short sprint catch the chicks in the tall grass. The parents usually fly a little further and call for the chicks. Before marking with a color combination of colored rings, so each animal can be assigned later, the cranes must be weighed and measured. Already after a few minutes the chicks run again in the direction of the calling parents. In the entire state of Brandenburg, about 60 cranes were ringed in 2021. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB. - Königs Wusterhausen/Brandenburg/Germany