[Chris Monk]

New hope to hear corncrake sing again

SARAH BREALEY - Eastern Daily Press

29 June 2006 06:30

They are one of the country's rarest and most secretive birds - but soon corncrakes could be flourishing again, thanks to a Norfolk nature reserve.

Chicks from Pensthorpe, near Fakenham, will be released at an RSPB reserve in the fens, in order to help reintroduce them to England.

Like the cuckoo, the corncrake is usually seen but not heard. Fifty years ago its "crex-crex" call was a familiar rural sound, but mechanisation of farming destroyed their nests and led to the population being wiped out in England.

For the past six years the RSPB has been trying to reintroduce the birds at its Nene Washes nature reserve, near March.

Now the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust will provide chicks for release at the Cambridgeshire reserve.

Pensthorpe manager Andrew Reeve said: "It is the only globally threatened bird that comes to England, so it is significant that we can do something for it. It is just as important as the tiger and the elephant.

"We are just chuffed to bits that we are able to work with the RSPB and help these birds. It is a major step forward for conservation."

Staff at Pensthorpe, who have been breeding corncrakes for the past 10 years, hope to send 25 to 30 chicks to the Washes this year, and many more next year.

Because the birds remember the stars above them and return to the same place every year, they must be moved as soon as they are independent, at just 10 to 14-days-old.

Mr Reeve said that large numbers are needed because so many die on their migration to Africa.

"It is a particularly gruelling journey and out of every 100 birds, only 15 return the following year to breed. So the project needs a lot of babies to make it viable."

Bill Jordan, who owns the reserve with his wife Deb and whose family owns Jordans Cereals, said: "The corncrake represents a key part of the British countryside which intensive farming had all but destroyed until the recent efforts of conservationists.

"We are excited about the opportunity to help to restore them to their native habitat."

Mark Avery, the RSPB's director of conservation said: "Sadly, in the last 50 years the corncrake has effectively become extinct in England.

"We know that Bill Jordan is also keen to see lost species restored to our countryside, so it is welcome news that Pensthorpe is to become an active partner in the project trying to bring this bird back to England."

[colonelboris]

I hope it works out well.

[Chris Monk]

Originally Posted by colonelboris

I hope it works out well.

The Times July 10, 2006

Mating call heralds return of corncrake
BY LEWIS SMITH

A CHORUS of corncrake calls has been heard in the English countryside for the first time in 50 years, to the delight of conservationists.
Ornithologists, who have heard the distinctive post-mating call of two males, are confident that the bird has bred.

Corncrakes were wiped out in England in the mid-20th century, though 1,100 breeding pairs remain in Scotland.

Four males in Cambridgeshire have been heard making their rasping “crex-crex”, marking a big step forward for a reintroduction project that began in 2001. The birds were once ubiquitous in the countryside, but the mechanisation of farming killed them off in England because chicks were unable to get out of the way of harvesting machines.

“This is the first time that such a strong chorus has been heard from this migratory bird in England for many decades,” Mark Avery, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said.

“The corncrake has suffered terribly across Europe, undergoing declines in the UK and the Continent. It is great that in one small corner of Cambridgeshire we are able to give the corncrake a second chance.”

[London Birder]

excellent ... be magic to hear those in the home counties

[Chris Monk]

From the Fatbirder web site: http://www.fatbirder.com/news/index.php?article=647

Cambridgeshire Corncrake Calling

A pioneering conservation project is restoring a corner of England to a time when an effectively-extinct farmland bird was a familiar inhabitant of the English countryside.

A project to reintroduce the corncrake - a dove-sized ground-nesting bird of farmland - to England has met with its best success yet with four male corncrakes uttering their distinctive rasping ‘crex-crex’ calls from one small part of Cambridgeshire - the first time that such a strong chorus has been heard from this migratory bird in England for many decades. The corncrake has declined in England and much of Europe because of intensive farming methods.

Amazingly, two of the four returning birds are brothers, released as chicks last year. These birds were among the heaviest of 78 chicks to be released last year at the RSPB’s Nene Washes reserve, near Whittlesey, after being captive-bred at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park. The third male is a half-brother to the other two brothers, while the fourth male is a bird of unknown origin, possibly one from Scotland.

The corncrake was once widespread across Britain and Ireland, but this elusive bird - which spends each winter in Africa - was forced out of many of its former haunts as fewer people and more machines cut the bird’s grassland habitats. Before the project began in 2001, corncrakes were restricted in the UK to islands off the north and west coasts of Scotland, where intense conservation effort is helping to restore their numbers.

The project - a partnership between RSPB, English Nature, Zoological Society of London, and more recently Pensthorpe Conservation Trust - aims to re-introduce the corncrake to the Nene Washes. The wet grasslands of the washes are being managed to provide returning corncrakes with optimal habitat for nesting. The project involves captive-rearing corncrake chicks and releasing them on the site in the hope that they survive the perils of the journey to Africa to return the following spring to nest.

Dr Mark Avery, of the RSPB, said: The corncrake has suffered terribly across Europe, undergoing massive declines both in the UK and the continent. Increasingly intensified farming has pushed this bird to the margins of our land, but it is great that in one small corner of Cambridgeshire we are able to give the corncrake a second chance Its return as a regular breeding bird in England is a step closer with this news.

Dr Phil Grice, of English Nature, said: Corncrakes once bred in virtually every county in England, but by 1980 all regular breeding had stopped. We hope that this superb result will mean that Cambridgeshire will become a stronghold for corncrakes to re-colonise the rest of England

Emily Funnell, UK Native Species Manager for ZSL, said: We are delighted that four male corncrakes have returned to the release site this year. This is a great success for the project and demonstrates the skill and dedication of ZSL's Bird Team at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, who have continued to breed strong and healthy corncrake chicks for release into the wild. This project shows that captive breeding and release can be an excellent tool for conservation if a rare and threatened species is unlikely to recover on its own.

Bill Jordan, Director of Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, commented: I am thrilled Pensthorpe can contribute in a meaningful way to such an important conservation project, working alongside the dedicated experts. We are excited about our role in providing new chicks to the programme to help restore these important birds to their native habitat

Created: 08th Jul 2006

[davebroadley]

I was able to arrange a visit for my local RSPB group to the reserve in May, lousy weather, heavy rain all day, offset by fantastic views of the black-tailed godwits that breed on the reserve. The warden was able to tell us a corncrake was back , holding territory along with a calling spotted crake. Unfortunately due to attentions of egg collectors, visits to the reserve are best booked via the warden.
David