Rookery hunt

Although raptors are my favourite group of birds I also have a long standing love of corvids and living on the edge of mixed agricultural countryside we well placed for that. We have started to see our local Jackdaws giving courtship displays even in the gardens around our flats and Carrion Crow building nests in the old college grounds over the road from us but our Rooks were playing hard to get. A new retirement village development meant trees were felled so we lost the rookery we could see from our kitchen window. This afternoon we went on a rookery hunt along the edge of town. A walk along the grass verge brought us to a wooded area we have only driven past and not studied properly and in trees sat back from the road we found 12 or more nests being refurbished. Tired of tarmac we ventured onto the muddy riverbank and eventually ended up near what was once my local pub. The trees here have about 20 Rooks nests most being refurbished and easy to watch and survey from nearby benches. Most years the local birds are starting to sit on nests and seem late this year, maybe the week or so of frozen ground has slowed them down as they were having trouble feeding, not sure just an idea of mine. To finish off the successful outing when we got home we had a repeat of yesterday evenings Starling murmuration

  • Sounds fabulous Pete, a new area to explore with woods... who knows what you'll spot besides rooks as the season moves along :o)
  • Sounds as if you have struck lucky with a suitable area to watch and better still, to be able to sit and enjoy the birds Pete, I don't know if the corvids are later this year or not but I have noticed them sitting together on the telegraph lines, and thought they were getting ready for the season. The weather we have been having must make a difference to their breeding times, after all who would want to carry branches etc to make a new home in torrential rain or freezing conditions :-)
  • Nice to have found a new spot. Surprisingly, I don't see many Rooks locally. There must a Rookery somewhere but I don't know where.