Corncrake

Grecco

I have a meadow I was going to mow, the thing is I spotted what I'm sure are Corncrakes, 1 adult and 2 young.
I was surprised that they were there as the field is a nice dry upland field. Anyway can I mow ahead, I was going to drive them out into another field or have they a nest in the grass??

pakalasa

One thing anyway is that they will keep running towards the centre of the field as you are cutting, so better to start in the centre and cut your way out. Talking from experience on that one (pheasants).
Says it here too;
http://www.corncrake.net/Download/ireland.pdf

Grecco

Fair bit of reading in that lad,
feck sake it says theres only 151 - 155 of these in Ireland surely that couldn't be right?

pakalasa

I think in the old days when farmers made hay, they tended to cut it later than we do now with silage. That is one of the main reasons for their decline.
(I'd say 'Birdnuts' might be the man for this one.)

Grecco

That make sense all right, I hadn't put out any fertilizer there either (too costly)
and I find silage too costly also!!
I must do a few jobs but Ill give a proper read of that later

Bodacious

Grecco wrote: »

I have a meadow I was going to mow, the thing is I spotted what I'm sure are Corncrakes, 1 adult and 2 young.
I was surprised that they were there as the field is a nice dry upland field. Anyway can I mow ahead, I was going to drive them out into another field or have they a nest in the grass??

I'm not a total tree hugger or anything but do your best not to disturb them... They very very rare...main population is on islands off of west coast i.e. No mowers. Corncrake Ireland will pay you to cut your hay/ silage after a certain date ... Think it's July .

If they return next year .. You'll get paid to delay cutting!

Try www.Corncrakeireland.ie for info.

For this year as Pakalasa says mow from inside out to give them a better chance of getting out don't kill them you'll get money for them next year !

Tipp Man

Regardless of the money it would be a shame to see this bird extinct in Ireland and their numbers are so small

Do what you can to keep them alive

Bodacious

Tipp Man wrote: »

Regardless of the money it would be a shame to see this bird extinct in Ireland and their numbers are so small

Do what you can to keep them alive

+1 Lovely lovely sound of the bird on summer nights

Grecco

I`m not going mowing it, I ve enough Hay got and it would be a shame if they left.
The best part of the story is that its since I started to neglect the place that it seems to have filled up with wildlife!!

Bizzum

Fair play to you Grecco!

Traonach

Grecco,
What part of the country are you in?
If it is County Clare it is highly unlikely that they are Corncrake (not impossible). They have not been breeding in Clare for many years.
Last year there were only 133 calling males in the Country (West Connaught and North Donegal mainland/Islands and two males in Shannon Callows). Population is Callows will become extinct.

If it is a female corncrake and young then there will be a male calling nearby (90% of females nest within 100m of calling male). The male will call throughout the night but less frequently during the day. The male will stop calling soon as breeding season coming to an end. Male however would have been calling for last two months The call of male is in this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCLAb93ca08

Corncrake like meadow whose height is greater than 20cm. They will not (usually ) be found in meadow if it is too rank or in scrub land.
Here's in some info and description of the Corncrake.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/corncrake/index.aspx
If you are unsure ring the number in this Link:
http://www.npws.ie/farmerslandowners/schemes/corncrakegrantscheme/

Hopefully it is a corncrake:)

babybrian

We have land in shannon callows and numbers were beginning to rise about 4-5 years ago but then the floods in 2008 and 2009 has basically wiped them out...very sad.. good on ya grecco

mikemac

We have them in North Tipp, there is about two acres of wasteland, it's in a hollow so everywhere drains into. All fenced off, nobody touches it.
I suppose it could be drained and reclaimed but it's a lot of work.

You can hear corncrakes in that area

Twice in the silage field beside it I've found eggs. Just move on and leave them undisturbed.

I know they are dying out due to silage but I never though they were so rare, realy just a few hundred left?
I've heard them for years in the summer evenings so just used to them. But I've never actually seen one

Pretty distinctive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au35iGBhcVc

Grecco

Traonach wrote: »

Hopefully it is a corncrake:)

yeah for sure its the Corncrake, and yes in Co. Clare But I have a mixed farm of upland and heavy ray land like whats in parts of West Connaught
I remember them around the meadows as a child
the thing is I think that there might be another 2 sets of them in another meadow

Traonach

Grecco wrote: »

yeah for sure its the Corncrake, and yes in Co. Clare But I have a mixed farm of upland and heavy ray land like whats in parts of West Connaught
I remember them around the meadows as a child
the thing is I think that there might be another 2 sets of them in another meadow

Just a few questions......
Are the corncrakes found on bogland?
Is there any nettle beds, cow parsley or yellow iris beds on the land?
Is the land mowed at least once a year?
How many males have you heard and what is the earliest that you have heard them and the latest?
What date to you cut your first cut silage?
Are the corncrakes in scrub?
Do you have any recording of the calling male?
Are the males calling now?

Birdnuts

Grecco wrote: »

yeah for sure its the Corncrake, and yes in Co. Clare But I have a mixed farm of upland and heavy ray land like whats in parts of West Connaught
I remember them around the meadows as a child
the thing is I think that there might be another 2 sets of them in another meadow

Grecco - if your sure you have these birds, get in contact with your local NPWS ranger since you could qualify for grants under the Corncrake scheme:)

http://www.npws.ie/farmerslandowners/schemes/corncrakegrantscheme/

Grecco

Traonach wrote: »

Just a few questions......
Are the corncrakes found on bogland?
Is there any nettle beds, cow parsley or yellow iris beds on the land?
Is the land mowed at least once a year?
How many males have you heard and what is the earliest that you have heard them and the latest?
What date to you cut your first cut silage?
Are the corncrakes in scrub?
Do you have any recording of the calling male?
Are the males calling now?

Theres yellow iris beds at one end of the field
The field is up-land the hay thats in it now is the type of stuff you`d love to save in square bales for calves. Its full of grass,red clover and other stuff.
Used to be mowed every year by the 1st of June but this is the first year in about 4 that I was going to mow it
I haven't been around to hear them, I`d hardly know the sound if I heard it.
I'm going down there t-morow so I'm going to try and catch em on video.

I`ll contact the local NPWS ranger to have a look as I also saw evidence of birds nesting in another meadow as well but I haven't seen any more but they could well be there.

As for the grants there all well and good but I wouldn't want to turn the place into some type of Eco-tourist area. They can keep the money, I`ll show the ranger and leave it at that

Birdnuts

Grecco wrote: »

As for the grants there all well and good but I wouldn't want to turn the place into some type of Eco-tourist area. They can keep the money, I`ll show the ranger and leave it at that

I wouldn't worry about that Grecco since this would be strictly private like a REPS payement. In any case it is something that runs year to year and is not a long term contract:)

LostCovey

Grecco wrote: »

Theres yellow iris beds at one end of the field
The field is up-land the hay thats in it now is the type of stuff you`d love to save in square bales for calves. Its full of grass,red clover and other stuff.
Used to be mowed every year by the 1st of June but this is the first year in about 4 that I was going to mow it
I haven't been around to hear them, I`d hardly know the sound if I heard it.
I'm going down there t-morow so I'm going to try and catch em on video.

I`ll contact the local NPWS ranger to have a look as I also saw evidence of birds nesting in another meadow as well but I haven't seen any more but they could well be there.

As for the grants there all well and good but I wouldn't want to turn the place into some type of Eco-tourist area. They can keep the money, I`ll show the ranger and leave it at that

Fantastic to hear someone willing to walk away from a field of hay BEFORE hearing about the grant - if you're not entitled to it nobody is.

LC

Grecco

LostCovey wrote: »

Fantastic to hear someone willing to walk away from a field of hay BEFORE hearing about the grant - if you're not entitled to it nobody is.

LC

I put it down to Nostalgia (or the fact that my drum mower is as noisy as a bag of cats )

As for the grant, I had a bad experience with giving fishermen access to a lake
nothing but papers, plastic bottles, open gates and broken fences :mad:

Traonach

Why was my post deleted

TimoCrex

Corncrakes leave the nest on the day of hatching and will be moving around the field thereafter. If it is Corncrakes you saw, or another species, to ensure their survival when mowing the field, simply mow in the Corncrake-friendly way, beginning in the centre and working outwards to the edges. The Corncrakes will move away from the noise and into the next available cover. By contrast, starting in the usual way, beginning with a swart around the outside of the field, sends the birds in to the centre of the field where they can be caught in the last swarts by the mower. Its also helpful to leave headlands, especially if there is no adjacent cover. If you or any neighbours think you've heard a Corncrake calling there this summer, perhaps you could report it to the Corncrake hotline - 095 44941.

topper75

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/irishnews/article4609725.ece

Lost cause it would seem now in the callows, according to an official survey.

Just the islands left really for any hope.

blue5000

topper75 wrote: »

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/irishnews/article4609725.ece

Lost cause it would seem now in the callows, according to an official survey.

Just the islands left really for any hope.

Ya heard that on the radio today too. Maybe it's a case that they still might be there but no one heard them. With all the cutbacks in the public sector maybe nobody is being paid to go see if they're there or not. I could be wrong though, May was a miserable month.

Capercaillie

blue5000 wrote: »

Ya heard that on the radio today too. Maybe it's a case that they still might be there but no one heard them. With all the cutbacks in the public sector maybe nobody is being paid to go see if they're there or not. I could be wrong though, May was a miserable month.

Flooding on Callows for successive summers prevented corncrakes from raising chicks. Only one male last year on Callows.