Rare birds which once faced extinction spotted on Rathlin Island

Corncrakes, once widespread across Northern Ireland, faced extinction in the 1990s partly due to changes in agricultural practices.

Their gradual comeback is the result of over a decade of work through the RSPB NI’s “Giving Corncrake a Home” project, which helped re-establish the species on Rathlin Island in 2014.

Since then, their return each spring has become a welcome and hopeful sign of conservation success.

The project brings together landowners, farmers, and over 45 volunteers to create and maintain the habitats Corncrakes need to breed.

Each winter, volunteers carefully dig up nettle rhizomes from various sites across Northern Ireland.

These are cleaned, transported, and replanted on Rathlin to ensure the birds have s...
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