Nest building

Nest building is now in full swing two weeks after the first sticks were seen being carried. There are now 41 nests that have been started.

Rooks and jackdaws are coming in from 5.30 p.m. onwards. Jackdaws can still be heard chattering at 7.30 p.m. so they take a while to settle down.

Rookery activity

Activity at 8.00 a.m.

Jackdaws too

There were 109 jackdaws with the rooks in the roost last night, at least that’s how many I counted in but there may have been a few in there before I started.

Rooks are roosting regularly now and usually there are some jackdaws present too. There are about 200 rooks hanging around the rookery and feeding on and off in the neeps field. The neeps are favourite just before going to roost.

I had the opportunity to check through some jackdaws late afternoon the other day as they fed in the field that’s now rather bare of neeps, they’ve been fed to the cattle. All were of the local race though, some were much brighter than others, I’m guessing the duller ones are 2cys.

Louise reported that rooks were carrying sticks today, the beginnings of nest building. The colony will have a lot to do, the winds of last winter decimated the rookery and there was only one large clump and a small one remaining.

Out and about

Rooks are certainly evident most everywhere at the moment. There’s not nest building yet but our birds have been roosting more often and return to the rookery in small parties during the day. This morning they awoke at 6:30, it was still dark, making a lot of noise in the soft day drizzle.

Roosting rooks

Rooks came to roost yesterday evening, with 200 or so flying in at 5.30 p.m.

Today they flew in a little earlier perhaps because the weather was more overcast, there were about 300 at 5.00 p.m. and they were joined by 42 jackdaws that came in high from the south. The birds left the roost once to go back out to the fields to the west before finally flying in and settling.

Dusk at the rookery

A typical soundscape from our garden on a calm February evening.

In the wind and rain

Rooks were here yesterday in the rain and there was some wind. It rained most of the day, at times heavily. Late in the afternoon rooks were feeding on the back fields which have recently been covered in slurry, there were also 500 common gulls feeding there. Late in the afternoon the rooks headed out.

Today was showery but there was relatively little wind, getting up to a f4 NW at times. Rooks flew around the rookery, chasing and generally behaving in a pre-breeding manner between feeding.

Flying out

I got back at 4.30 p.m. in time to see the rooks and a few jackdaws flying high over the rookery heading east. Presumably heading for the Binscarth rookery to roost. There were 315 rooks and 2 jackdaws.

Calm day, rooks here

The first I knew that there were rooks here today was when I heard them from the kitchen as they flew noisily out of the rookery and towards the back fields. They hadn’t roosted but they had arrived once the rain had stopped at about ten. Once the rain had stopped, blue sky appeared and we enjoyed a lovely winter’s day, albeit with the occasional shower.

Around midday a number of rooks returned from the western fields to the rookery, each new arrival greeted with caws and occasional soaring and circling around.

I went out and photographed the remaining nests. For a colony where there were at least 70 pairs last year the autumn and early winter have taken their toll.

The few surviving “nests”

At 4.30 p.m. there was plenty of noise as the roost, as I thought, arrived. Jackdaws were heard amongst the 300 or so rooks. But after a good bit of circling around they left to roost elsewhere.

No more roosting

Despite last Sunday and Monday being calm no rooks roosted. About 200 rooks were seen on Monday feeding about a mile from the rookery. Since the wind has got up few rooks have been seen. Today with heavy rain and hail showers and a westerly wind close to Force 9 at times rooks have been conspicuous by their absence.