By Michael McHugh 13:57
Thursday 16th of June 2016
The first corncrake recorded in
Donegal this year was confirmed in Ballyliffin on the 24th of April.
Corncrakes begin to arrive in Donegal in April from their wintering grounds in
south-eastern Africa, a journey of 10,000 km. The birds seek out tall
vegetation such as nettles or flag iris early in the season to conceal
themselves until there is enough growth to move in to the meadows.
The male does all the calling to
advertise his presence to females and warn off intruding males from his patch.
He has a distinctive ‘’Krek Krek’’ call which can be heard around dusk and will
continue throughout the night until dawn. The corncrake is a shy little
bird which nests in tall vegetation on the ground. They have two broods with
the first hatching in June and the second in July/August. 8-12 brownish cream
eggs with brown spots hatch in 19 dyas and chicks are unable to fly until 5
weeks old.
The NPWS corncrake conservation
project will continue this year with a census carried out between 20 May and 10
July to count all the calling males. The project also offers grants to farmers
to delay cutting and corncrake friendly mowing through its Corncrake grant
scheme.
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