I heard something last night that I have not heard for years. My wife called me outside late last night to listen to the call of a Corncrake, one of our rarest and most endangered birds.
When I was a kid, and we spent time in Scarista, there was a male Corncrake in residence across the road from our house. We heard it just about every day and it kept us from getting to sleep at night before waking us up at the crack of dawn. Which maybe isn’t such a bad thing when you’re a kid and each new day is exciting, packed with fun and games, and seems to go on forever. Of course, us being up so early wasn’t such a good thing where our parents were concerned…
Anyway, until I heard the Corncrake’s call last night, I had forgotten just how loud the damn things are (go here and click the Play button, top-left of the page!). Still, it’s good to hear one and know that the attempts to conserve them are proving successful.
It sounds just like a “Corncrake”…