You can hear them coming from miles away when they're on the wing.

Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the trumpeting call of our loudest bird is increasingly being heard again in the skies over Norfolk.

Cranes died out through hunting and the loss of their favoured wetland habitat centuries ago.

In 1979, a small number of wild birds from Europe colonised part of the Broads before spreading to other areas of eastern England and elsewhere in the UK.

Rearing projects were set up in Norfolk and Somerset 10 years ago, which have helped to further boost birds' numbers.

In 2021, a record breeding season saw 72 pairs of the birds fledge 40 chicks. This year saw numbers continue on an upward trajectory, although exact figures are not expected to be published until the New Year.

Norwich-based author Chris Durdin has written a book on how Norfolk gave the birds a springboard from which to re-colonise the region which remains their stronghold.

Mr Durdin, who worked for the RSPB for 30 years until he left to run birdwatching tours, said: "There's a Broadland population of around 10 pairs and a lot more birds than that because they don't breed until they're five or six years old, so there are immature birds that are not in pairs that knock about with them in the winter months.

"There's a Fenland population, there's something like 10 pairs in the Fens, they breed at Lakenheath Fen, Welney and there are some other sites. There was a pair on the Lincolnshire Fens this year."

John Blackburn, reserves manager with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, said: "We had three pairs of Crane nesting at NWT Hickling Broad this year, which successfully fledged at least three young.

"They are a splendid species, and fairly easy to spot at this time of year. We see large flocks gathering at Hickling - I saw a dozen just this morning.

"If you head to Hickling Broad, particularly at dusk, there is a great chance of catching sight of flocks of 20-plus."

Mr Durdin co-authored the Norfolk Cranes' Story with the late conservationist John Buxton, of the Horsey Estate, who helped safeguard the first arrivals, and zoologist Dr Nick Upton, who said the birds' recovery was already gathering pace when it was published in 2011.

"A lot of people have an emotional attachment to them," he said. "They're big, they've come back and their sound just tugs on the heartstrings. Every time I hear it, I just go 'wow'."

The bugling call of the crane can be heard for miles. Homer's Iliad likened it to the trumpet calls of an approaching army.