From Fanad to Fota — and back again — for the luckiest corncrakes in Ireland
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All too often news reports on corncrakes contain grim facts about a drastic drop in numbers.
Ireland’s corncrake population has declined by more than 96% since the 1970s. In 2019, surveys carried out by the National Parks & Wildlife Service estimated 150 remaining pairs in Ireland (Donegal, Mayo and Connemara).
But thanks to an eagle-eyed corncrake field worker, a farmer, a team of dedicated conservation experts and Cork's Fota Wildlife Park, here are nine of the luckiest corncrakes in the country.
Corncrake LIFE is a project working with farmers and landowners to improve the habitat for corncrakes. They have six project staff, 50 farmers in a pilot scheme to create habitats to attract the birds and there are also 20-30 landowners involved.
As part of their work they developed a licenced protocol in case they recover corncrake eggs, chicks or nests. They literally have 'break open in case of emergency kits'.
On June 13, some Corkcrake LIFE fieldworkers were monitoring the mowing of a meadow in Fanad, County Donegal when they found something remarkable.
Dr John Carey, Corncrake LIFE project manager, said: "On the last pass of the mower they spotted a nest. It survived by a hair's breadth. So close that 2 eggs were knocked from the nest..."
The eggs were recovered and within hours, were moved from the site in Fanad Head to Cork's Fota Wildlife to be incubated in their special facility.
"Fota Wildlife are our project partners and they are absolute experts in corncrake husbandry. Fota Wildlife Park director, Sean McKeown drove up to meet me as I drove down from Donegal and we handed over the eggs to his car at a petrol station along the way."
"I did have Radio na Gaeltachta on in the car in the way to let them hear a bit of Irish and the Donegal accent — they might be 'born' in Cork but they are Donegal birds," he laughed.
From 11 eggs, the experts managed to hatch nine in Cork.
Dr John Carey, project manager: "Within two hours they were bouncing around the place. Remarkable little things! They grew and grew. Velociraptors. They stayed for 20 days in the care of Fota Wildlife — and what care they got."
The lucky nine were then returned to a soft release site close to where the nest was found.
Local staff member, David Ferguson, carefully constructed 'the Fort Knox of enclosures'. And for a further 3 weeks, they cared for the birds and gave them a decent chance to acclimatise to their home area.
"Then the day of release came....and nerves were high! All nine birds were in great shape, healthy and strong. They were amazing to see up close — exquisite."
Finally, the gate was opened.
And one by one... the birds went back to the wild.
"Since release, the birds have dispersed. We can now only wish them well and hope that they make their way safely to Africa and back again to us next Spring."
"It really was a community and team effort from start to finish as the landowner had informed us in advance that he was cutting the silage and had committed to cutting from the middle of the field out towards the edges. And he knew to do that because he has a relative who is a teacher in a local school who had heard about efforts to save the corncrake as part of our schools programme," explains Dr Carey.
You may not ever see a corncrake in person as they are a 'secretive' species as well as being rare, they are a bit bigger than a blackbird and are dark yellow-brown, with dark barring on the back, reddish flanks and a grey belly. But if they are in the area then you'll hear them: males have a loud distinctive, ‘crex crex’ call, which carries up to a kilometre away.
"Corncrakes really only nest in the best of areas. You can have biodiversity and a range of wildlife in an area but you have to look at what species you are getting there too," explains Dr Carey.
And while these birds are all from the same family, there are hopes that the males in the group may attract new females to the area. The males call the females with their loud cry.
In this instance, the mother wouldn't return to the nest after being disturbed by the cutting so the crew had to balance monitoring the site for as long as possible to give her a chance with not letting the eggs get too cold.
Dr Carey noted: "So while it is sad that the birds didn't get to be hatched in their own nest this was the next best possible outcome. And we have had our emergency rescue pack ready for some time. In a way, it's like having a black belt in martial arts — you hope you never need to use it but when the time comes, it's great to have it."