The annual corncrake surveys are nearing their end this season. In this survey season special, Shona recalls the magic of her first survey this year on the Isle of Lewis, whilst Jamie & Claire share recordings from their surveys on Uist, including one from a survey when Jamie counted a personal best of 50 birds in one night!!
A survey night on Lewis - Shona Morrison (RSPB Lewis Corncrake Warden)
As I tiptoed out of my house just before 11.30pm (completely confusing the dogs with my walking jacket on), I left to start my first corncrake survey of the year. I couldn’t help but feel a little excitement as to what was in front of me. Would this be the year that the corncrake numbers soar in Lewis? Or will numbers follow the national trend and start declining here too? It was a beautiful, still night, although a little chilly. I was heading up the West side of Lewis and working my way back north. I started the surveys in a couple of villages that had occasional single corncrakes in them over the past few years, nothing calling. Not an encouraging start. Then I headed to the village of Carloway, which in only 2019 had six calling males. Last year there was corncrake silence in Carloway. This year, to my delight, I recorded three, they had returned! This instantly lifted my spirits.
Sound of a calling male corncrake (Claire Bird - Uist)
I then headed to Shawbost, a thick bank of fog settled on the crofts and the roads. Not ideal for visibility, or an over-active imagination. Having been brought up in a school where our history teacher had a fondness for telling us local ghost stories and folklore, I had to convince my brain to forget them all. It doesn’t help that corncrakes also have a liking for calling from and around cemeteries for some reason. I guess the nettles and dock leaves around old dyke walls attract them, I’m sure they don’t do it just to make a night time surveyors life more challenging than it already is!
Shawbost usually has a healthy population of corncrakes, it didn’t disappoint last night. On my way home I called into the village of Brue, a little village which hasn’t had corncrakes for years apart from the single one here and there. I was delighted to hear two calling. Nature certainly has a way of surprising you.
During the course of the night, it hardly ever gets pitch black here in the Outer Hebrides. The sky remained a beautiful dark blue melting into light blues with the pink hue of the sun on the horizon having just gone down, then quickly the sky starts to welcome the orangey pink new sun rising in the morning.
The sound of the Hebridean night is filled with drumming snipe, tetchy sounding oyster catchers and the erratic sound of the sedge warblers when you come across dots of trees and hedges. The corncrake is so loud and unmistakable in amongst them all.
I didn’t see much excitement on my night survey apart from plenty of suicidal deer running in front of the car and cats. Lots and lots of cats. Some, definitely feral, with scruffy bodies and big tom cat faces to healthy looking pet cats with collars on. An oyster catcher was desperately trying to fend off a pet cat from his patch down at Bragar shore. They will be on nests at the moment, I hope the oyster catcher succeeded.
As I arrived home just before 3am, I stopped to say a very early good morning to the also confused ponies and tried to get nice picture of the dawn of a new day. It was very peaceful and tranquil listening to the dawn chorus and my ponies happily grazing. When, without any warning, something that I had never heard before, whizzed past my head. It hissed and made a kazoo like noise with a little “cuckoo-cuckoo” after the horrid noises it first did! I thought my heart was going to stop with the fright I got. I’m so glad it did let out a cuckoo as I would never have been able to figure out what demon like creature just passed by my head! It took me a little longer that usual to switch off to sleep last night. I could still hear that cuckoo calling from our croft as I was drifting off to sleep, was there a little cuckoo laugh in between his calls? The tiredness must have got to me….
Survey Recordings from Uist - Claire Bird (RSPB Uist Warden) and Jamie Boyle (RSPB Uist Site Manager)
Meanwhile on Uist, Claire and Jamie were also hearing males calling during the night surveys. Jamie had one particularly good survey: "one of the best night I have ever had and recorded over 50 birds". Some video/audio recordings from these Uist surveys are below:
Claire Bird - 1 calling male
Claire Bird - 2 calling males
Jamie Boyle - surrounded by calling males
To find out more about RSPB Scotland's annual corncrake surveys, take a look at Chris Bailey's Overview of the 2021 results and sign up as a Corncrake Champion to receive an update on the 2022 survey results when ready, and to find out ways you can help corncrakes.
Have you heard or seen a corncrake this spring / summer? You can help our surveyors and corncrakes by telling us where and when using our online Report a Corncrake tool.