The story behind this image

I was 15 years old the first time I saw the dance of the Japanese Red Crowned Cranes on one of Sir David Attenborough’s nature documentaries. I was so moved that I vowed there and then to travel to Japan some day to witness it with my own eyes.

Many years later I finally made the trip and they did not disappoint.

The first time I saw them was Valentines Day - a fitting date as it turns out since I fell instanstly and madly in love with each and every one of them.

Now each year on February 14th I remember again that first encounter which I hold so dear to my heart and it fills me with an inner joy that is hard to explain to someone who has not experienced that connection to nature for themselves.

Before this encounter I did not think birds capabable of emotion but now I am convinced the opposite is the case. I remember them literally running around, jumping in the air as if to express their joy, their love for life. I saw them pick up twigs and lumps of ice and run around with them in their beaks, tossing them in the air then running after them to pick them up again to run around some more, just as a dog or human child would play with its favourite toy.

In the elaborate courtship rituals, the approach and graceful bow of each bird to its mate I am sure I witnessed love.