The day before while on the Lady Jane I managed to pick up some vital information from a fellow wildlife tourist, who advised me that the best place on Iona for the crake was behind the Spar shop near a phone box.
So as soon as Dawn and I landed on Iona we headed straight over to this view point and within seconds heard and saw our first crake.
However the sun was in the wrong position and we decided to knock on the door of the cottage adjacent to the field the crake where in. We asked if we could stand in their garden and they kindly let us.
From here the crake came in to full view and I never dreamed of getting views of Corncrake like this!
Iona is a stunning place full of charismatic Corncrake, white sandy beaches, good food and we also got Spotted Flycatcher and Cuckoo to boot.
So thats its, whats a great birthday treat! The day before I managed to get Golden Eagle on the list and picked up a lovely male Hen Harrier on the drive over to Iona. So this trip adds WTSE, Surf Scoter, WTSE and Corncrake makes it 300!