Being away in New York for 10
days during the end of May meant I wasn’t able to catch up with the singing
male Corncrake that had taken up residence at Carr Lane in Hale, Cheshire for
nearly 2 weeks after news had been made public!
Arriving late on the Sunday
afternoon, whilst some visitors had apparently had to wait several hours to get
a glimpse, we were lucky in that ten minutes after taking up our spot by the
hedge, the Corncrake gave up his position in the long grass with that familiar
rasping call of “crex crex crex”. Not long after we could just make out a small
head peeking from amongst the clover and flower petals, calling loudly and
proudly and trying (sadly in vain) to attract a mate.
We watched this unusual summer
visitor for the rest of the evening, calling regularly from his favoured patch in
front of the pony paddock and showing very well at times, even coming right out
in to the open towards the end of the evening and crossing the short grazed
grass before creeping along the far left hand side of the fence line in full
view.
Having travelled to the island
of Iona in West Scotland last June (probably a year ago to the day from seeing
the Cheshire bird) where we enjoyed brief (though close) views of two birds on
a very wet and torrential day, it was great to see this particular individual
for a lengthy period of time (in the sun!) and showing well.
It is a real shame that this
once abundant farmland bird (my Grandad can remember a time when he would
regularly get Corncrakes in the fields by his house) is restricted to just a
few Scottish island strongholds, and it really is pause for thought that a bird
that would once be considered the norm in farmland habitats across the country
would cause a “twitch” on such a scale in the present day.
The presence of both Grey
Partridges and singing Corn Buntings at the site (both steadily declining these
days) demonstrates that this Cheshire farmer is doing something right at least,
but it is a sad and sorry reflection on current British farming practices that
the Corncrake, along with many other farmland species have become almost
non-existent in many areas throughout Britain over the past few decades.
Sadly, after our visit on the
Sunday, an irresponsible birder was observed tape luring the bird the next day,
and unfortunately and frustratingly the Corncrake hasn’t been heard or seen
since. Fingers crossed he has moved up north to one of the Scottish islands
where he will hopefully be successful in finding a mate.
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