Corncrake – post breeding era

The Corncrake still has a breeding range that stretches across the Palearctic from Siberia to Britain and Ireland but there has been a marked decline in numbers, especially in northern and western parts of Europe, the result of changing farming practices, Along the western edge of its range it is now confined to a limited number breeding, with about 1200 territory holding males in Scotland by 2009.

From the early 1980s onwards the Corncrake in Pembrokeshire had become a less and less frequent migrant visitor, briefly stopping off en route from African wintering grounds to northern breeding localities. The graph indicates how few have been recorded and indicates a trend towards less frequent occurrence. Notably none were reported from farmland.

Historic records show that Corncrakes have appeared as early as the 14th of March and stayed on as late as the 10th of December. Passage times since the cessation of breeding have been from the 24th of April to the 3rd of June and from the 27th of July to the 1st of November.

Stuart Devonald became fatally ill before completing the account for Corncrakes in Pembrokeshire. Graham Rees, who discussed the subject with him on many occasions, has completed the process and hopes the result will stand as a small memorial to Stuart’s input to the ornithology of Pembrokeshire.