Corn Crake

As most of you probably know, there was a Corn Crake somewhere on the Jones Beach strip of the barrier island this past week. Some of us will remember that this bird was illustrated by R.T. Peterson in the early editions of his path-breaking field guide but afterwards disappeared as it hadn't been seen on this side of the Atlantic for decades. Corn Crake is an upland rail that inhabits the edges of farm fields in the Old World and winters in Africa. It is considered highly endangered in Europe, probably because of a change in farming practices and a more extensive use of pesticides. It is not only rare but also, like many rails, it is extremely shy and, even though it is very vocal on its breeding grounds, it still remains very difficult to see. I once spent an entire morning trying to see one at the of a wheat field near Paris (the word 'corn' was originally a generic term for any kind of wheat; there is also a farm field bird called Corn Bunting). I was literally a few feet from the bird which was calling loudly from cover but I never got to see it! Anyway, as some of you undoubtedly know, it was hit by a car racing down Ocean Highway only a couple of days after it was found and it is now a specimen at the Museum of Natural History. It was the first sighting of this bird in our area since (if I'm not mistaken) the early part of the last century. One person that got to see it alive was Eileen Schwinn. That's her photo below. There are other photos and also videos on the Internet. I'm still working on my summary for the 2017 season so you'll hear from me soon again. Eric Salzman