Tory Island, nine miles off the coast of County Donegal, was one island that felt particularly remote. The team came here to film a secretive bird that has almost completely vanished from the Irish countryside within the last century: the corncrake. Slightly larger than a blackbird, corncrakes are chestnut brown, finished with elegant dark streaks to provide the perfect invisibility cloak for disappearing into the ground vegetation. For many people, corncrakes, with their resonant, raspy calls, are the quintessential sound of summer; infusing the air with the warmth of the African climes they seek during the winter months. Over the past few decades, this beautiful chorus has fallen silent throughout much of the country as the Irish breeding population teeters on the edge of extinction. Yet, on Tory Island, the sound of the corncrake is extraordinary. It’s one of a handful of sites in Ireland where these sensitive birds have clung on to existence, thanks to the absence of mechanised farming. Tory islanders are clearly very proud of their special summer visitor, with landowners taking an active role in creating and preserving habitats for them to breed in. Granting the soil with a chance to breathe in this way has stimulated an explosion of wildflowers that cloak the landscape. Here you can find an astonishing abundance of orchids which are becoming increasingly scarce on the mainland. Tory Island is a truly enchanting place and it was a privilege filming such a rare bird in a habitat thriving with life.
