Confused Cranes?

I've not posted for a couple of weeks as I took a break with my wife and friends to escape the cold and wet. I know from experience that there are few birds to be seen from a cruise ship but the days spent on land on a trip that went from Barcelona to the Canaries via Madeira allowed me to snatch some interesting birding including houbara bustard, Madeira firecrest and canaries chiffchaff  all of which were new to me. Other birds which I've not seen for some time included Audouin's gull, Spanish sparrow and Bertholot's pipit so I'm not complaining.
I've returned to a Charente which is distinctly more chilly with a north wind and a sprinkling of snow on the ground. Yesterday's (brief) cycle ride turned up barely more species than the Mediterranean Sea, the only sign of life on the plains being a lonely buzzard and a large flock of skylark.
Stella sensibly decided to go out in the car and while travelling to Chasseneuil saw a flock of fifty cranes still moving south. Strange times indeed but it's possible that these are migrating birds which stopped off further north and have now felt the urge to move southward with the cold snap.