8 May 2018
Few people in Northern Ireland
will have ever heard the call of the once common corncrake, never mind seen
one.
Modern farming methods are blamed
as the prime factor for its retreat.
In a rare good news story for the
migrant bird, a member of the rail family, it has been heard again on Rathlin
Island, off the Antrim coast.
The Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds (RSPB) is crossing its fingers that the shy species on its
red endangered list has returned to breed.
One of Ireland's rarest birds,
the secretive creature has a distinctive call.
Its unmistakable
"crex-crex" was heard in Rathlin at the weekend, much earlier in the
season than usual, prompting hopes that it has successfully bred on the island
where it had been heard and occasionally sighted in recent years.
No comments:
Post a Comment