The Rooks Of Wick St Lawrence

I've just looked it up. I last did a rook nest count around the village on March 20th 2016. You can read about it here if you so wish. Rooks 2016

Back in 2016 I counted 33 nests around the village, predominantly within three distinct concentrations, one by the Village Hall [C in the map], one as you entered the village [E on the map] and one as you left by Cedar Farm [F on the map].  Today I headed off to count them again, and this time there were 31 nests. However they are now spread loosely around and away from the village. Only the trees on the entrance to the village [E] still holding nests in number. 

Rooks are often site faithful, with some large rookeries being occupied for centuries. There is not the extensive spread of trees here so numbers would always be low, but for reasons I can't explain they've spread out into new areas, often in quite low trees. So what's happened? Well I'm not sure, maybe its something and nothing, simply just a change. 

Location of rook nests in the village (after posting noted date incorrect should read 12.03.2022)

Wick St Lawrence is a tiny hamlet really only 8 miles from Weston Super Mare. Over the six years since 2016 a number of farm buildings have been converted to housing, but pretty much the village is as it was. Certainly this area is perfect for foraging with damp grassland of sheep and cattle farming making up the bulk of the farmland here on what is the northern areas of the Somerset Levels and Moors. It is low lying land, quite exposed but perfect for foraging, lots of tasty worms and other invertebrates then.

The biggest change in those 6 years is the lone nest in the trees next to the Village Hall. In 2016 there were a number of nests but as in the image above, today just that single nest. From memory I think there were no nests here last year. These are actually the tallest trees so maybe Wick St Lawrence rooks don't have a head for heights. What I find amazing though is that every single nest that had survived from last year around the village was blown out of trees after Storm Eunice. That was little over a month ago, and since then 31 nests have been fashioned, life goes on. Its to hope then that we don't get any more gales and the rooks can get on with raising young in peace. So here is my record of the rook count 2022.

A on the map = 3 nests in trees by Byfield Farm, a lot of activity there there today with jackdaws joining in.

B on the map. 9 nests here, the most in one place. This is a brand new location for nests and as hopefully the images shows these are not tall trees and right by the road. The rooks though were very active here, with at least one female on the nest.

The site B is very much on its own in terms of tree cover. Barn owl love this area too.

C on the map. As mentioned above these trees are next to the Village Hall and used to be a regular area for rook to nest in. Just this lone nest in 2022.

Trees around Cypress Farm - D on the map - also held 9 rook nests, but two of these to the left were actually quite a way distant. This is again a newish area for rook to nest in.

Above and below the only site that has remained constant in terms of activity - E on the map. What isn't obvious is that the trees where the rook nest are overhanging the lane, which itself is peppered with sticks which have fallen out, as I've encountered a few times over the years as they've bounced off the car while I was driving to and from home. Not a very peaceful site then with cars and tractors thundering underneath, but the rooks don't seem to mind.

Finally below - F on the map - just 2 nests by Cedar Farm. This used to be a hotspot for rook nests for a number of years, and a couple of years back a raven nest in the conifer. Just two then in 2022. The house, no longer part of the farm, was sold a couple of years ago and the new owners have cleared a lot of the garden. Not sure this has made any difference in the reduction in the number of nests, but could be a factor.

It is intriguing seeing the change over the years. On one hand the level of activity is about the same as in 2016, 33 nests then, 31 this year. The dispersal of the nests into smaller groups and in areas where the trees are quite small is quite interesting too. It seems to me that rook behaviour is changing, and certainly they seem less wary of humans now they are not shot at or persecuted as of the olden days. As many people will have noticed drive along a motorway and where there are trees, often quite young, you'll see nests, especially in and around service stations.  A few years ago research took place at Membury Services on the M4, as the rooks there seem to be changing their behaviour based on human activity - not least raiding the waste bins.

It is fascinating trying to work out what's going on. The image below is a good example of what intrigues me. This is the landscape beyond site B all the way to the Bristol Channel about a mile away. Nice wet long term grasslands, normally full of cattle and today hosting a lot of corvids feeding. In the middle distance are a number of tall trees both in the hedgerows and around farms, but not a single rook nest that I could see. 

I'll leave that as a question then - I'm sure the landscape could hold more rook territories and there is enough food, so I wonder why they don't also move over there? Maybe 30 pairs is all the landscape can hold for reasons that escape me. Interesting!

Greenfinch Distraction

Sometimes the simplest of distractions bring the most complexity of joy. Not the best photograph I've ever taken but a quick snap (out the office window before it flies off) of a greenfinch on the feeders this morning. The second time I've seen a greenfinch in the garden this week, but the first time in many years.

As with many common birds in my childhood the greenfinch has suffered a dramatic decline in numbers, though unlike some other species where habitat loss or disturbance are at play this mournful songster has been hit by a parasitic disease known as trichomonosis. It's a common disease in other birds but began to be noticed in garden visitors around 2005-2006, with the thought being that increased bird feeding can accelerate the spread picked up from dirty garden feeders. Ironic really that we put food out for the birds, and inadvertently make them ill. 

What's for certain here in this area of Somerset is that I'd not seen a greenfinch around the house for many years, nor chaffinch come to that. Looking through my wildlife diaries, these two species were here regularly until around 2010. After that just the occasional sighting and in the case of the greenfinch that soulful song of theirs on a windless day, and so reminiscent of my childhood, simply disappeared.  Astonishing to comprehend that in my lifetime a species that when I was growing up used to be quite numerous in our Country Durham garden now languishes on a red list due to the severity of declining numbers.

The disease affects many other species; chaffinch as mentioned which has also suffered a 25% decline recently, sparrows, dunnocks and great tits, the latter of which I saw with physical signs of the disease last year. The parasite affects the throat and gullet and can be physically deforming with growths on the feet or beak. Affected birds struggle to eat, becoming emaciated and although not necessarily fatal and birds do recover, many die through poor condition, starvation or increased predation which in itself can spread the disease into birds of prey and then back into the food chain. 

All pretty miserable stuff, but today I managed to get a quick photograph of this greenfinch and it brought back the positives. I'd also noticed a couple of chaffinches in the garden recently, maybe then this disease is either less prevalent in this region, or those birds now returning are carrying a certain level of immunity.  I've still not heard a greenfinch calling, but only last week a 'pink pink' of a chaffinch could be heard. Later it's song drifted across the garden. As a child my parents had a permanent caravan which was surrounded by trees. There chaffinch were very common and that 'pink pink' sound they make when alarmed takes me right back to that time. Happy days with not a care in the world. Todays greenfinch looked in super condition, there's hope then others are lurking in the fields beyond the garden wall to bolster the numbers this spring. Spring is definitely arriving here with this newly constructed carrion crow nest in the back field too.

This carrion crow nest must be a quarter of a mile away from the house, but in the last few weeks I've been watching it being built twig by twig. They nested in the same tree last year with that nest being destroyed in the winter winds. This pair of crows use the fir tree at the bottom of my garden as a lookout post and I watch them fly back and forth to the nest, which I think is now complete. I get better views using my telescope and I've seen the female head poking over the rim in the last few days, though she wasn't there today so not sure if there are eggs in there yet as it is still a little early. I hope then they raise a good brood this year. Last year they raised four, who after fledging would noisily come to a neighbours roof to be fed by both parents. It was highly entertaining to sit and watch these youngsters scrabbling about on the roof, wings flapping as they slid and fell down the tiles before flapping back up to the ridge. Eventually though they got the idea and would sit on the roof ridge waiting for the parent to return which was always heralded by noisy squabbling. At night they roosted in the trees just beyond the house and stayed in the area until late autumn.

Spring is here, birds are returning, nests being built, something to look forward to and a welcome distraction as I gaze out of the office window before getting down to work. What better than a few minutes nature fix before the day begins.

Singing Blackcap

Like many people at the moment I suspect, I'm up early listening to the news from Ukraine. This morning however I turned off the newsfeeds to listen to a blackcap singing. Not just any blackcap but the male which has been resident in the garden all winter. 

What I'm thinking now is with his starting to sing to set out his territory and attract a mate, will this chap and the female with him all winter, actually stay here to breed? UK wintering blackcap normally come from north-central Europe and return there to breed, being replaced by the north African blackcap who over-summer in the UK.  But a small percentage of blackcap (and their relatives the chiffchaff, one of which has also been here over winter) have become truly resident. 

The issue I have then is that of proving this bird is resident. Blackcaps are notoriously uniformly bland in appearance. Don't get me wrong I love these males and their sooty black cap, but my overwintering one doesn't really have any other distinguishing plumage. Except that looking at some images I've taken over the weeks he does has a slight kink in the back of the cap and his white lesser covert somehow always sticks out just a bit. Hopefully that's enough to go on if he and the female remain here in the breeding season and I can prove it is this pair that have chosen to stay here all year round. 

More keen observations then, but even if they depart soon and are not resident, that wonderful song this morning enriched the garden during these dark days.