The first of Ireland's remaining corncrakes has arrived in the Midlands over the past few weeks to begin a new breeding season on the Shannon Callows.
The wet meadowland along the Shannon between Athlone and Shannonbridge was the breeding ground for 54 of the males last year, more than a quarter of the surviving birds in the country.
In all, ornithologists recorded 184 calling males last year in Ireland. They were concentrated in the Callows, Mayo, west Connacht and Donegal. It is assumed there is a breeding female for every male bird.
Last year was a good one for the corncrake, which is under threat of extinction because of its loss of habitat.
It was also a good year for the birds breeding in the Shannon Callows because, for the first time since Bird-Watch Ireland and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds began a conservation programme, numbers did not decline.
Under the voluntary scheme, farmers are paid two grants for delaying harvesting of hay and silage until after August 1st, and an additional payment for cutting meadows from the centre outwards, which gives birds a chance to escape uninjured.
Last August, however, farmers who took part in the scheme on the Callows were badly hit by flooding , which meant that some lost their hay stocks for the winter.
Yesterday Ms Anne-Marie McDevitt, who is the corncrake project officer for the Callows, sympathised with them. "As a result of that, we have decided to increase the payments this year to farmers who are taking part in the scheme, from £32 per acre to £36 per acre. They will also get the payment for cutting their crops from the centre outwards," she said.
"I am glad to say that the farmers, who know we are a non-governmental agency, are still very interested in the scheme and are already making contact with us.
"There is a great interest in the bird here and we expect that the 200 or so farmers who participated in the scheme last year will be back again this year," she said.
Derry-born Ms McDevitt and her colleague, Mr Adam Batty, will be counting the Callow birds this year, responding to reports by farmers of calling males in the area and checking the reports between midnight and 3 a.m.
"We have to do that because the males stay in their territories at night quite close to the nest, and that is how we count and confirm them," she said. "If we were counting in the middle of the day, there is a possibility that we could count the same birds twice or even three times as they move around a lot during the day."
Ms McDevitt said that since counting began in the area on May 20th, the team has recorded the calling of 27 male birds. Should this level continue, numbers of males might reach the figure of 54 recorded last year.
"We are looking for help from the public and would welcome information on the birds should the public hear them. They can contact us and we will investigate." The official census is being co-ordinated by Ms Catherine Casey, who looked after the project in Banagher last year. It will run to July 10th, after which the males tend to move around a great deal, again presenting the risk of over-recording.
The team can be contacted at 0509-51676.