A Bowl of Corncrakes

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Anyone who has tried to see a Corncrake will know just how secretive they can be; they are the models of stealth. You are looking where they appear to be calling from and a head pops up out of the vegetation yards away. Getting someone on it before it disappears is itself an art as descriptions of yellow flowers vie with those of red tipped leaf for the best direction indicators. Invariable the crake moves on before it’s seen well.

Not so on the Birders Tour to Mull last week; we were stood amidst an island of calling Corncrakes. As we watched a wonderful spring meadow respectfully from a distance the other side of a wall at one of the RSPB recommended viewing locations we were somewhat taken aback as this little chap made his way across the grass between sheep and geese … right out in the open.

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