Corncrakes calling

Corncrake (Crex crex). Hebrides, Orkney, United Kingdom.

Best time: 15 May – 30 Jun (May to June). Where: RSPB Balranald, North Uist, Isle of Tiree, Isle of Iona (United Kingdom). Time of day: Calling starts at dusk (about 23:00 in June on the Hebrides) and is near-continuous from midnight to 03:00.

• You can go on your own
• Free
• No binoculars needed
• Sound 4/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

Peak: 15 May – 30 Jun. Mid May to end of June

Active from 25 Apr to 10 Aug (April to August) in a typical year.

Time of day

Calling starts at dusk (about 23:00 in June on the Hebrides) and is near-continuous from midnight to 03:00; some birds call by day early in the season.

• Night calling: last light → 03:00

What will you hear?

The rasping 'crex-crex' from iris beds and meadows, with snipe, redshank and the sea behind.

Binoculars?

No binoculars needed. Calls from iris beds within metres of the road; the bird itself is almost never seen.

Where to go

• RSPB Balranald, North Uist — Machair and iris beds; single-track roads with little traffic at night. Map
• Isle of Tiree — Highest densities in the UK; wind is constant, so choose sheltered iris beds. Map
• Isle of Iona — Near the abbey, among the easiest to hear. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Balranald: free RSPB reserve, open at all hours; park at the visitor centre at Hougharry and walk the machair track, or simply listen from the single-track road verges after 23:00. Tiree and Iona: CalMac ferries (Oban–Tiree; Fionnphort–Iona), then public roads — corncrakes call from iris beds within metres of the tarmac. Do not enter the fields.

Cost: Free; CalMac Oban–Tiree £14.20 adult single, Fionnphort–Iona £2.40 single / £4.80 return (summer 2026).

Field-recording notes

Schedule 1 species — no entering fields and no playback. Calling birds are often within metres of the road verge, so a rig left on the verge overnight is the low-disturbance option. Calm nights are rare on the islands; check forecasts and take the first one.

Sources

• RSPB Balranald

Similar spectacles

• Corncrakes calling on Tory, Inishbofin and the MulletIreland · Nocturnal · peak 20 May–30 JunThe rasping 'crex-crex' of corncrakes from iris beds and nettle patches, several males answering across the island, with snipe drumming, the Atlantic on the rocks and sheep — one of the last places in western Europe you can still hear a corncrake night.
• Nightjars churring on the Kalmthoutse HeideBelgium · Nocturnal · peak 1 Jun–10 JulThe dry, sustained churr of nightjars from the pine edges, rising and falling as the bird turns its head, broken by 'kwik' calls and wing-claps; woodlarks' song at dusk, natterjacks rasping from the fens; the hum of the port of Antwerp on the horizon.
• Nightjars and woodlarks of the Landes pine forestFrance · Nocturnal · peak 1 Jun–15 JulChurring nightjars from every clear-fell in Europe's largest planted forest, woodlarks still singing at dusk, and the surf from the Atlantic dunes if you are near the coast.
• Provençal nights: nightingale, scops owl & stone-curlewFrance · Nocturnal · peak 25 Apr–5 JunNightingales in every tamarisk, scops owls' 'tiu' on a 2–3 s metronome, stone-curlew wails from the Crau, nightjars churring on the garrigue, tree frogs from the marsh.
• Corncrakes and curlews of the Styrian EnnstalAustria · Nocturnal · peak 15 May–20 JunRasping corncrakes from the wet meadows, curlew bubbling and snipe drumming at dawn, quail, tree frogs from the raised bog, cowbells and the Enns.
• Corncrakes and wet-meadow night chorus, Ljubljana MarshSlovenia · Nocturnal · peak 15 May–20 JunCorncrake's rasping 'crex-crex' from several males at once, quail 'wet-my-lips', curlew bubbling at dawn, frog chorus from ditches, grasshopper warbler reeling; church bells and dogs from the villages.

More: all spectacles in the United Kingdom · wildlife at night · the United Kingdom in May · the United Kingdom in June