Regular followers of our page will be aware of our Corncrake reintroduction project which started last summer, in an attempt to bring back a self-sustaining population of Corncrakes to the Lower Derwent Valley - the hope is that boosting the small numbers that turn up here almost annually will be the first stage in securing an English breeding population. This project has been made possible thanks to our partners including Carstairs Countryside Trust and Deepdale Conservation Trust in Norfolk, as well as the hard work of our volunteer team, who had only weeks to build the pens last spring before the first chicks arrived.
In addition to a wild pair present on site during the summer of 2025, a total of 74 chicks were released across the LDV NNR, having been reared in pre-release pens from 12 days old in order to fix on the night sky and to ‘set’ the Lower Derwent Valley as ‘home’. Our post-release monitoring work using various tracking tags showed the birds to survive well and behave naturally in the Ings meadows, and departing and migrating out of the country in line with what would be expected from wild Scottish bred Corncrakes.
Following their migration to the wintering grounds in the Congo in Africa, we have been waiting with bated breath for their return, although with a low survival rate, we were expecting to see perhaps only four or five singing males return in the first year. However, we are delighted to say that so far we have recorded three, or possibly four returning males (all heard singing recently) – although in the coming weeks they are likely to become more vocal and easier to record – if you're fortunate enough to come across a singing male whilst visiting the site, please do get in touch to let us know – thank you.
