Funding boost to help elusive birds

A project aimed at saving one of Scotland’s rarest birds has taken a step forward thanks to an award of £30,300 from The National Lottery.

In recent years corncrake numbers in Scotland have fallen to worryingly low levels and the funding will allow RSPB Scotland to develop the project further over the next year ahead of applying for a full Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £370,000. This would fund a four year project beginning in January 2020.

Known for their distinctive “crex-crex” call, corncrakes are summer migrants to Scotland and spend the winter months in Africa. In Great Britain they are only found on a number of Scottish islands and a few isolated areas on the North West coast. Last year’s population survey found only 866 had been recorded, a drop of 33 per cent since 2014 and the lowest number since 2003.

The project in development, called SCALE, would work with farmers and crofters across Orkney, Durness, Skye, Outer Hebrides, Argyll and Inner Hebrides to deliver corncrake friendly practices. This would include financial support for measures such as delayed mowing dates to help chick survival and the creation of dense vegetation areas to give corncrakes cover.