The Fox, The Cat, and The Crow

The image accompanying this short post has absolutely nothing to do with what follows, however I observed this earlier in the year at Wells Cathedral and it made me smile.

More recently for the last few nights the carrion crows in the area have been kicking up one heck of a din around and after midnight. Nights of course are short in June but this raucous harsh cawwing has pierced the silence of the darkness and has continued regularly for the last week or so. I first heard this commotion about 11.30pm one night as I stood in the garden before bed. Alerted to the noise I could see the carrion crows flying about silhouetted against the still feint blue sky to the west, but that was all. No other sound aside from their caw-caw-caw. On another occasion there was an almighty din coming from the field at the rear of the house at around 1 am. In that instance two maybe three crows were being very vocal and moving about quickly. I suspected there was a nocturnal predator about but couldn't see anything or be certain. 

But now I think I have solved the mystery - a fox. 

We have a lot of foxes around there, making best use of the mixed habitat of the very rural landscape all the way to the sea and the very built up suburbia with scavenging opportunities. Each of these two habitats is separated by the lane which runs behind our house to the village itself. On Friday night, or should I say at 2am on Saturday, our cat who is a fully trained mafia boss woke me up for a feed.  Duly fed he popped outside to sit on the drive, something he regularly does after a handsome meal. Moments later there was an explosion of caw-caw-caw from the trees behind me. The calling drew closer accompanied by wingbeats and then across the street a fox casually lolloped along the front gardens of the houses opposite, being followed, well below roof height, by a pair of crows becoming more agitated by the minute. Eventually the fox leapt up over a fence and went behind another house, closely followed by the noisy sentinels. After what seemed an age but was more likely only a minute the noise of the crows faded then died away, silence resumed. 

Gingernut our cat sat on the drive watching this unfold with resigned bemusement. He is a marvellous cat as he has absolutely no interest in birds and simply observes them even if he and they are on the lawn together. The resident hedgehog likewise gets a wide birth. I put it down to intelligence on his part after I educated him to not kill wildlife. Mrs Wessex-Reiver says he's conserving his energy as it is beneath him to react as it would be far too much effort to chase after a prey item. She may be right.

The question then on my lips is are the crows and fox interacting because of disturbance? Or, more likely, are young fledgling crows about that I can't see and the adults are simply being good parents? From what I saw of the fox it was patrolling the gardens not trying to get at something intently like a stricken bird on the ground. I can't be 100% certain every carrion crow cawing at night has been due to the fox as in the behaviour I witnessed, but it makes reasonable sense as foxes are a nightly occurrence, though of course rats or other cats may be to the creator of this darkest hour pandemonium on other occasions.

It is not the first time Gingernut our cat and the local foxes have been together. I suspect there is some interaction of sorts going on as he leads a very much nocturnal life. A month or so back I was woken by the foxes trashing a neighbours recycling boxes. Leaning out the bedroom window there were two foxes who seeing me fled down the street. Moments later Gingernut appeared from the exact same area as the recycling boxes and foxes and nonchalantly trotted over the road and into the house with an air of "nothing to see here". Was he across there with the foxes all three trashing the recycling boxes, or was he simply innocently passing? I have my suspicions he was with them and interacting to a greater or lesser degree with them as I've seen him twice now watching a fox intently on our drive, well before I have. 

Non peer-reviewed research suggests foxes and cats do interact and by and large there is no combative competition. Foxes being bigger could of course kill a cat, but cats are mean street fighters and observational research suggests foxes avoid cats due to the latter's claws and lightning fast reflexes. Even Gingernut who we think is about twelve or 13 years old can show remarkable ferocity when the neighbourhood cats enter the garden, though with the street domiciled fox, he just watches the fox trot by, which is why I have my suspicions he is a feline co-ordinator of this mayhem, like a ginger Godfather.

Now - I just need a good, unbroken, night of sleep......

Further reading  : 

Are foxes a threat to cats (2014)

http://www.catbehaviourist.com/blog/study-certified-cat-behaviourist-anita-kelsey/

North East Garden Wildlife

I've been spending a few days up in the North East as my father has been in hospital. What with hospital visiting and working full time the days have simply been a blur. No sooner have they dawned over the North Sea then the sun is setting over Newcastle, sun which at this time of the year is as strong and warm as we'd have in August. However in the few gaps of my rushing about like a headless chiff-chaff I've been doing some wildlife window watching.

My parents garden has always been good for wildlife. In the thirty plus years they've lived here no chemicals have ever been applied. Before that the two spinster sisters who lived here had let the garden revert for decades, and when my parents moved in it was impossible to get to the bottom of the garden. My parents have never liked a tidy conventional garden anyway - it is mainly trees, shrubs and borders which now are semi-wild as my father rarely goes into the garden now. The wildlife flourishes here, and with the garden being two hundred years old I'd like to think it has matured gently over time into a little mini nature reserve. As far as I'm aware nothing unique makes this 30m by 90m garden its home, but that doesn't distract from the joy I get observing what goes on outside while at the kitchen sink.

Take these jackdaws for example. This pair are now nesting in one of the disused chimneys. I sat in the garden one evening watching them fly in and out of the hole in the side of the chimney, while making a mental note to ignore this property decay. Each time they arrived at the chimney, one, which convention would suggest the male, (but I'm not sure as females also tail wag) would sit on the chimney pot, wagging it's tail as a sign of communication, while the other popped into the void to be followed by the first bird, but only briefly.  Then they'd both fly out sit on the chimney in the glorious evening sun and repeat this behaviour a number of times. The nest presumably is built and eggs inside, it is impossible to tell, though I'd have though the female would be nest sitting if that was the case. This pair may simply be late prospecting after all, with the tail wagging all part of a ploy to speculate in this real estate. But they are fun to have around.

I'd put a new bird feeder up as the old one had been trashed by the grey squirrel which has it's drey in the ivy covered rowan tree nearby.  I know these mammals are despised but I like them and this individual is as fit as a lop. I watched it last night sitting high on the pub roof next door. Suddenly it leapt into the large holly tree which dominates this garden. A distance of 3 maybe 4 meters, a crash into the branches and then a scampering up and along the branches out into an acer, then a jump into the rowan and disappeared. Brave little chap, no fear then of launching itself into the prickly holly tree. 

That holly tree itself is a micro habitat - we've long speculated how old it is. I'd suggest close on a hundred years as the trunk is about a meter in circumference, all gnarled and covered in those nodules older holly is known for. Over the years a magpie has nested in there, blackbirds and pigeons have foraged on the berries and it is also a place to watch holly blue butterflies. I can't remember the exact year I first saw holly blue in the garden but at that time they were spreading north and on reporting it to the local recorder, it was only the second or third record in this area. Most days this week half a dozen have be seen flying about in the sun. Along with a lot of bees and flies. Down at the lower end of the garden is a hawthorn which has been consumed by ivy, it looks like a huge green mushroom now. Stand there in the warm sun and the sound of hundreds of insects is evident from a gentle hum. Later in the year this will be a butterfly magnate. Oddly though while I've been here, aside from the holly blue,  I've seen no other butterflies or moths. That's probably observer error rather than lack of species. 

Next to the hawthorn is an ancient pear tree which is now in blossom. In the past I've seen bullfinch here, but not for many years since houses were built on the fields behind the house. It is a favourite spot though for the wood pigeon and often I've seen a sparrowhawk sitting here waiting to ambush, though not this week. One evening though I watched a blackbird nest building near by. Arriving at regular intervals with leaves or twigs it popped into the ivy and while I couldn't see exactly what was going on, the shuddering and juddering of the ivy gave the game away. A most enjoyable observation, which went on for at least half an hour as I sat in the evening sun with my mug of tea. I did think though at the time that while a good safe location concealed from most predators, the resident squirrel may have other ideas. 

However a lack of species was not my issue at 4.30am mid week. I'd had a restless night, thinking of this and that, so having woken I thought time for a cup of tea. Before heading downstairs and although quite dark still, I heard birdsong. I popped into the back bedroom where there are windows that open to almost the floor. As I opened them and sat on the window ledge the birdsong of a Tyneside conurbation dawn chorus hit me. The predominant bird was a blackbird, and as I listened there were at least three dotted about. But also in this soundscape, at least one song thrush, carrion crow, jackdaw, blue and great tit, and I'm sure a greenfinch, a smattering of house sparrows and a coal tit which are resident in the garden. A dominant wren added to the chorus as did a dunnock and later some passing herring gulls. No summer migrants yet. Dawn is getting earlier now and the soft apricot glow to the east added to the sense of peace and quiet after my restless night.

Yesterday however there was very little peace and quiet. The garden is home territory to a pair of collared doves with presumably a nest nearby. They sit for hours on the garden chairs cooing gently. But they are aggressive too. 

I'd discovered a handful of early Roman era crumpets lurking in the freezer, so having a sort out I threw them onto the lawn for the birds. First down the jackdaws. That was fascinating. I'm not sure crumpets are a staple diet of these birds, but immediately one hopped over and having quickly looked at it stood on it, before beginning to pull and peck at the crumpet - and of course standing on the crumpet meant it didn't move, clever. The jackdaw then moved around in a circular motion taking small bites on each pass. That was until the collared doves began attacking the innocent corvid. A bit of a tussle took place before the harrying doves chased the jackdaw away. All was calm, for a while at least. 

Half an hour later I heard a raucous commotion and looking out a carrion crow was in the garden eyeing up one of the crumpets. It was a matter of a few seconds before I saw the doves fly at the crow in a territorial attitude. Unlike the jackdaw the much bigger carrion crow was having none of this and before I realised it had either hit the dove with it's feet or its bill, but whatever had happened there was a flurry of dove feathers billowing in the air, with the dove flying off to look a little non-pulsed on the pub roof. Meanwhile its mate sat in the acer tree in an attitude of, I'm not going near that big lad. Calm restored once more the carrion crow picked up the whole crumpet in its bill and flew off, leaving a carpet of downy feathers as the only evidence of a battle.

Later in the evening this was repeated, but now with rook. Three rook dropped into the garden, with a similar number perched nearby. In came the doves cooing and flapping wildly. One rook perched on a chair was repeatedly dive bombed, a risky business for the dove given that a rook's bill is more like a pickaxe. The rook still perched on the chair but with its neck stretched upwards parred and stabbed at the repeatedly passing dove. Meanwhile the other two rook were making tidy progress with the crumpets. Eventually all three rook, presumably fed up with the collared dove, flew off while being chased by the doves who were still dive bombing the rooks as they flew away. The doves soon returned and sat on the table looking all innocent and delicate, cooing softly. 

Innocent and delicate, I don't think so. I know what goes on, I've observed all of this out of the kitchen window this week. So after all that, I think it's time for a bacon sandwich for breakfast.

Stop the cull of crows petition

I don't often get onto my soap box for a petition, but this one I feel is a just cause. There is a group called the Songbird Survival Trust which purports to be a legitimate wildlife conservation organisation, but in fact has hidden agenda's. That's fine, all organisations have hidden agendas. It's part of life. However under the auspices of research, they are organising a culling programme of corvids, in the belief that this will prevent further songbird decline. Is it me, but if we decide that in our countryside, one group of animals should prosper at the expense of eradicating another, then we're on a slippery slope back 100 years, especially when in this case all the evidence suggests that while crows has some impact, farmland practices, human development, disturbance and habitat loss are the biggests problem facing songbirds.

I fully understand the need to regulate corvids in some circumstances, and have no problem with landowners controlling their numbers. After all the whole of the UK is managed to a greater or lesser extent. However... for a so called wildlife group to plan and execute this cull seems very dubious to me. So a petition has been set up to try and stop this. I have no involvement with any of this, just want to spread the word. A link to the petition is here.

The Hare and the Crow.... oh dear!

Oh dear the credit card has taken another bashing and the profits of a well known Internet bookstore named after an area of South America have risen again. I'm meant to be on an economy drive and well the body is willing but the mind is weak.

I've had my eye on these species related tomes for a while now, as I'd come across the 'Crow' volume while researching corvids in the autumn. These species led monographs are part of the Animal series of books, published by Reaktion Books. They are not a field guide. In fact if you were to use them as a field guide, you'd be sadly disappointed.

Illustration from the Crow

What they are is a veritable smorgasbord of exploration into the historical significance and impact on humans of a wide range of animals, everything from mythology to religion and science, alongside the trade in that animal, art and culture and their roles in literary imagination.

Anyway on Monday evening I was chatting to a colleague and we discussed these books. In a flash I had produced my flexible friend, fired up the laptop, and in less time than it takes to boil and egg, purchased 5 books. 2 for me, the Hare and the Crow and three for my colleague, Snail, Snake and Spider. I'll say nothing about his choice of species other than, he lives alone!

Illustration from the Hare

This afternoon these books arrived and having a bit of a flick through they're fabulous. The Hare book is particularly apt, as next Tuesday I'm off to a secret location in East Anglia to visit a wonderful woman who has been studying hares on a farm for decades. Weather permitting, guaranteed sightings and guaranteed a wonderful day as the individual hares are known to her by name.

I wonder if they (the females) will be boxing yet? A bit early but you never know. I feel a photo opportunity coming on.

Birds, Bees, Butterflies and every Corvid

Many bloggers have posted great stuff about the arrival of spring this weekend. At last it felt like we were getting rid of this long winter. Which explains of course why my head this morning looks like a ripe tomato..... I'll never learn, wear a hat in the spring sunshine.

What this glorious weather did do of course is bring out the wildlife en masse. I think it is the arrival of insects in the countryside which really starts to move the year on. Certainly there were a lot of Queen bumblers droning about yesterday. I also spied 3 different species of butterfly, 3 Brimstones, half a dozen Small Tortoiseshell and at one point one of these was next to a newly emerged from hibernation Peacock. Would have made a fabulous photograph if they hadn't flown off just as I got the camera ready.

There was also a lovely bit of behaviour with one of the Brimstones as a House Sparrow tried to catch it on the wing, watched this for a while until the Brimstone left uneaten to live another day.

Yesterday was glorious so a friend and I went on a nature ramble in Dorset. I'll not say exactly where as this involves a Badger site not far from houses. Save to say it was a "reet canny walk".......... off we go then!!

The walk began in a wide footpath with overgrown hedges. These were alive with birds doing what birds do in the spring, the lads showing off to the girls. Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Great Tit and Robin were everywhere. As were one of my favourite birds the classic Little Brown Job, the Dunnock. Normally fairly secretive, they do sing from perches as this one was. In the same bush were 2 others having a bit of a flirtatious time with their constant wing flicking, which is why some older people call this a Shufflewing.

Walking through the village to the woods, many chimney pots had Jackdaws nest building. I watched this pair for ages, as they were collecting nesting materiel from the roof. Lovely bit of pair bonding going on while the male passed items to the female. In the distance is a Rookery and this is where I was heading

But en route spotted this very common moss, Bryum capillare on a wall

Into the Rookery by the church the noise was deafening. Also the Rooks were not that good at nest building; or as my companion said, they're dropping more than they're using. We watched these for about 10 minutes and isn't it just amazing how entertaining the Crow family are. I love crows and just feel uplifted watching their squabbling and messing about, especially this time of the year. I wonder if they minded me photographing their bottoms?

This part of the walk took us past an ancient stone wall, absolutely covered in plants. I think I'll do another posting one day about the value of stone walls for wildlife, but for the moment a photo of Navelwort, named after the dimple in the centre of each leaf. This one was producing it's strange flower spike. Like all members of the sedum family these fleshy leaves store water and help it survive periods of drought, which is why it's often found on old stone walls growing in very little soil.

Speaking of water, this area has a spring fed water trough, so an arty shot of cold, spring derived water on a warm spring day.

Just around the corner from this we were greeted with a carpet of yellow Lesser Celendines in flower. It just lifts the spirits seeing this blast of colour.

But eventually we got into an ancient woodland. Quite an interesting place really, as although classic mixed deciduous Ash and Hazel woodland, at some point it must have been enclosed as there are old stone walls running through it, quite a bit of Laurel at one end and now seems to be used by mountain bikers. Which was interesting, the path snaking through the wood was wide and full of jumps, but off the path the woodland was pretty much as it should be.

Quite a bit of it seems to be coppiced and this gave a wonderful mix of lower and upper story habitats, but open for ground loving plants, such as these Violets, which were present in both blue and white form, or the Dogs-Mercury below.

Bluebells were starting to come through, Aliums, and a whole host of other plants, emerging into the spring sunshine, such as these Wood Anemonies, not quite in flower, but just as beautiful in the green.

The woods were absolutely alive with birds, usual Great and Blue Tits everywhere, but a Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling, as were a pair of Jay's with their harsh call, though I never managed to get a good look at them. Which made me realise we'd now seen nearly every member of the Crow family on this walk, except Raven, Hooded Crow and Chough, and the latter two I'd not see in Dorset anyway...... more about this at the bottom of this posting.

I tried to get a decent photo of this Nuthatch, one of 2 on this tree, but it was a bit far away really. Oh well a record shot I suppose. They were calling continuously. One bird I didn't see was a Treecreeper which was slightly surprising, but we can't win them all.

I did however find a huge Badger Sett, with this entrance being very freshly dug out, or at least having a spring clean, so I know it's active and why I'm not saying where this walk was given the woods are also used by mountain bikers. Can't really see this in the photo but a lot of green vegetation was mixed into the spoil. It was while looking around the Badger domicile I spotted what I'm pretty certain is a common Carder-Bee, Bombus pascuorum. I should know this but there was something about it which made me think it wasn't.

We'd been out 2 hours now, so time to walk back home, which brought us back into the glorious sunshine, and past a lot of Mistletoe on fruit trees in a farm.

Finally back home we were relaxing with a cuppa in the garden, more Small Tortoiseshells there, when Baxter (who acts as tour guide on all our walks) heard a commotion overhead. Before even looking up, I knew what was going on as that deep Cronk Cronk was heard. 3 or 4 Carrion crow were hassling a Raven as it flew over the house. Quite a few Raven up on the ridges only a few miles as the crow flies from where I was. Brilliant, I couldn't recall seeing a Magpie today, but they're everywhere and often don't register, but that Raven meant that every Corvid possible in Dorset was seen in 3 hours, and a confirmed Magpie in the garden not long afterwards. Fantastic.

Certainly Baxter was very happy with his walk and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the garden. Well he only has little legs. There will be more from him later in the year, as he has his own blog now.

It must be spring....

Finally the sub zero temperatures are breaking, the night before last was minus 9 down here, and even my conservatory which I decided to close up to save heating it, was minus 1.... brr. Despite what the press say though, it's not that cold really, the coldest I've ever been was minus 21, in the Highlands of Scotland in the mid 1980's and boy oh boy you know it's cold at that temperature. Golden rule, never touch anything metal with bare hands at that temperature. Yes I learnt from experience.... I was only young, that's my excuse. Talking to a colleague recently who's just back from filming in the Antarctic, they experienced night time temperatures of minus 48, and that's in the summer !!!

I actually like cold temperatures, and not that good with hot weather, so being out in the field at this time of year I'm quite happy. Wildlife though has a different view. It may be mid-winter, and smaller birds may be feeding like mad to survive, but many birds are now beginning to pair up ready for breeding. In recent days I've noticed Rooks and Carrion Crows are now pairing up. And on Christmas Day a Collard Dove was gathering nesting material, but they're not the brightest bird in the park. If you notice when out and about Corvids, one of our earliest breeding birds, are sitting in cosy couplings on wires and trees. I also saw a Rook pair mating on Tuesday.

It's actually a bit lighter in the evening now than before Christmas, and this increase in day lenght (known as the Photoperiod) is triggering an ancient responce to breed, for northern Hemisphere wildlife. Likewise a reduction in photoperiod will cause things like Deer Rutting, hibernation and so on. Many wildlife life-cycles are triggered not by temperature but by increases in daylight length, which is why a prolonged cold snap in April can be disastrous for birds like blue tits if the emerging insect food source is delayed.

So with that in mind, when I'm out and about, it feels like Spring is just around the corner! Next time you look at a male blackbird look at it's eye, if it has a yellow ring, it's a UK bird, fit for purpose, and showing off to a lady. If it hasn't got one, chances are it's a Continental bird, and won't go into breeding colour for a few more week when it returns to foreign climes.

Finally, have a peek at Joe's Blog In the spirit of my last posting and encouraging young beginners, Joe has videoed a magpie in the bird bath and Santa gave him a video nestbox kit. Looking forward to seeing what moves in Joe. Which reminds me, don't forget to clean out nestboxes before too long, ready for the coming season.

Dorset Miscellany & Robin courtship

Well it must be Easter. Sunny but absolutely freezing. A good excuse to stay in and eat Easter Eggs then.

What do you think of this? The local free paper "Blackmore Vale Magazine" had this article this week. Now this would be something to add to the Dorset County List. What a wonderful bird, I wonder where it came from? Surely not global warming, ha ha!!

Following on from my posting about Crows earlier in the week, just for Oldcrow and ST (their blogs are worth a peek, on my links), I spent half an hour in the garage before her indoors awoke to try for some Corvid pictures through the window (which is why they're not quite sharp). I'd put some fat balls out on the lawn and in the end 13 Rooks and 3 Jackdaw came to feed, plus the usual squabbling starlings. The photo bottom right just shows how fearsome a Rook can look. Especially to an earthworm.

Finally, I wonder how many of you have seen Robin courtship? I forgot to mention earlier in the week, while walking into work on Thursday I stumbled across this wonderful behaviour. Robins like many birds "food pass" between the male and the female to strengthen the bond as part of the courtship ritual. It also helps the female build up energy/fat reserves without having to forage herself. Producing eggs is an energy sapping business, so the man of the house is doing his bit for his lady, before the actual mating takes place, known affectionately as "treading".

The female basically takes up the posture of a juvenile, this one was on a branch. Fluffing herself up, flitting her wings, calling (can't describe it well but a "scheep scheep" is sort of there) and keeping her gape open, the male searches for tasty morsels to feed her. Robins being quite bold in towns, I was lucky enough to be only a few feet away and so able to watch this for about 2 minutes. In that time the male returned 3 times. Keep a look out as it was a wonderful experience to behold.

I mentioned this to Thelma and she said sounds good, bring me a cup of tea in bed......

The Crows

Do you like Crows?

Those of you who regularly read my rambling blog may know I'm especially fond of Corvids, or Crows if you prefer the common term. Not everyone's cup of tea I grant you with their connection with witches and so on, but I love them. Years ago, and from nowhere a Carrion Crow befriended me. I used to open the door and it would hop in and sit on the table to be fed. Then one day it was gone. Crows are so intelligent and their social cohesion is remarkable. The garden in Dorset regularly gets Rooks and Jackdaws on the bird table, wonderful to watch.

Linked to this, last Sunday on Radio 4 (6.30am...yes I was up then) a lovely Living World programme about the large Rook roost in Norfolk. If anyone's interested, here's the link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/livingworld.shtml

So realising I know very little about their behaviour etc I've decided to do a spot of research. But where to begin? Well kindly a friend Brett Westwood suggested 3 books, all out of print, plus another one I'd already known about which has just been published. I ordered the out of print books last week on the old internet, 2 from America, and one from London, The Crows by Franklin Coombes, which arrived at work today. Tomorrow is a day off so that's my bedtime reading sorted. (Mind you I'm also reading Earth Memories by Llewellyn Powys, wonderful Dorset Essays, in a readable style - just smashing).

Are any of you interested in Crows? if so, here are the other three books Brett suggested and now on order; Can't wait.

Crows of the World - Derek Goodwin - out of print
Ravens in Winter - Bernd Heinrich - out of print
Crow Country - Mark Cocker - newly published in 2007