Giving Corncrake a Home in Northern Ireland | RSPB

Check out this video from Mairi Eyres, a wildlife filmmaker who joined us on the 'Giving Corncrake a Home' project last year. After facing extinction in the 1990s, the distinctive call of red-listed Corncrakes has returned to Northern Ireland’s Rathlin Island, thanks to the dedicated work of volunteers. “Giving Corncrake a Home”, RSPB NI’s longest-running project, started over 15 years ago. The team works in collaboration with farmers who generously offer land during the winter months where volunteers dig and wash nettle rhizomes which are then replanted at Rathlin. The nettles provide dense, tall vegetation early in the year, providing safe habitat for nesting and foraging when Corncrakes return from migration in April. Connecting people to save nature is at the core of the project. Last year, nearly 40 volunteers dedicated 343 hours of volunteering to create an additional 230 square metres of vegetation. None of the work would be possible without the project’s two Volunteer Coordinators, Jodie King and Fiona Robinson, who gave an amazing 226 hours on top of that. And the reward is in seeing this elusive species returning in numbers to Rathlin Island.