The cranes of Phobjikha
Each year, as winter closes the high passes of the Tibetan plateau, the black-necked cranes — tall, stately, grey-and-black birds, among the rarest cranes in the world — fly south across the Himalaya to the milder wintering grounds of Bhutan, and the glacial bowl of the Phobjikha valley is their most famous refuge. Some hundreds arrive from late October and stay until early spring, feeding by day in the valley's fields and roosting at night in the central marsh, safe from predators on the open water. They are deeply revered in Bhutan: it is said that on arriving and again on leaving, the cranes circle the Gangtey Goemba three times, as if in homage — and the valley's people, who share the land with them, hold their winter presence as a blessing.