WHAT a mysterious bird is the corncrake.
Few farmland birds are as secretive and difficult to see, but one once startled the keeper of a lighthouse in Scotland by arriving on the rocks below.
This is one of many fascinating records in the superb book - A Natural History of Lighthouses (Whittles Publishing).
Over 293 pages of text and stunning illustrations, author John A. Love's explores the history of scores of UK lighthouses, those who designed them and those brave and resilient souls who worked in them, often at great risk to limb and life.
But as the title indicates, he also chronicles how they have become habitats for an extraordinary wealth of wildlife, especially birds - not just marine species but also passerines seeking a rest on their long and exhausting migration over the seas.
These include starlings, goldcrests, blackbirds, skylarks, stonechats, redwings, song thrushes, fieldfares and wheatears, plus various warblers and flycatchers.
There is a special focus on the pioneering work of John Alexander Harvie-Brown and John Cordeaux who were at the forefront of an initiative to encourage lighthouse keepers to record what birds and other wildlife they encountered.
In mainland Britain, this important project ran from 1879 to 1887 by which time no fewer than 126 lighthouses had been recruited.
In Ireland, thanks to the efforts of Richard Barrington, the lighthouse research continued for a further 10 years.
Sadly, many of the records were of dead birds that, mysteriously attracted by the beams of lights, had crashed into the lanterns with fatal consequences.
Where they could not identify the species, the keepers were encouraged to submit wings, legs or even, with smaller birds, the whole corpse.
The collisions were bad news, not just for the birds but also for the keepers because it created extra work.
The author quotes a 1902 record of Bell Rock keeper John Campbell:"Grease, blood and feathers half obscure the lantern panes and all require liberal cleaning to keep up to inspection order."
Also from Bell Rock comes another record - this time submitted by Robert Clyne of a storm petrel that vomited all over one side of the lantern, "the smell persisting for some time despite numerous washings and rainstorms".
The author evidently has a special admiration for Leeds ornithologist William Eagle Clarke who not only collated much, if not most, of the lighthouse research but also spent substantial periods in lighthouses such as the Eddystone (and also on the Kentish Knock lightship) in order to gather first-hand knowledge.
Sadly he seems to have succumbed to dementia before his death in 1938.
His friend, Philip Manson-Bahr wrote: "His brain became clouded, and he was no longer conscious of the world around him."
The cover price of A Natural History of Lighthouses is £30, and the book can be ordered from booksellers or online outlets.
However, for those who order via the publishers' website - https://bit.ly/3q5higm - there is a 20 per cent discount by inserting the promotional code WPLINCS20
This offer will run until until February 12, 2021.
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