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page.Corncrake
Crex crex
Late in the evening, walking along a path in a field, one may suddenly hear strange sounds resembling the scraping of a comb against the edge of a matchbox. This is in fact the call of the corncrake, returned from tropical Africa to its breeding grounds in Europe. It arrives about the middle of May seeking out dry nest sites in fields and meadows. The song is mostly heard on warm nights after dark or before dawn. The simple nest, lined with bits of leaves and grass stems, is placed in a well concealed depression in field or meadow. A clutch usually comprises six (but sometimes as many as 18) eggs which are incubated by both partners for 19 to 21 days. The nestlings are entirely black and leave the nest the day after hatching, running about close by. For the first few days, they are fed such items as caterpillars, beetle larvae and small spiders by both parents. Later they themselves hunt various insects and worms on the ground and sometimes gather seeds as well. Corncrakes can move rapidly through cornfields because the sides of their bodies are flattened.
Click on any of the other bird links, these are Geese Barnacle Goose : Brent Goose : Canada Goose : Greylag Goose
Or on the Ducks: Gadwall : Goldeneye : Goosander : Mallard : Pintail : Pochard : Red Breasted Merganser : Red Crested Pochard : Shellduck : Shoveler : Teal : Tufted Duck : Wigeon
And the rest, in no real order of importance: Common Sandpiper : Coot. : Corncrake : Curlew. : Dunlin : Greenshank : Lapwing : Moorhen : Oystercatcher : Redshank : Ringed Plover : Snipe : Spotted Crake : Stone Curlew : Turnstone : Whimbrel : Woodcock.
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