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  1. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    I have been warned that this thread is over seven years old! But I must mention that the Rooks have not returned anywhere on the farm. Another sad fact is that my brother died in 2020 although not directly involved with this farm, he was obviously a close family member. He was 74 and had been...
  2. J

    Rarest bird you have seen in the UK?

    We only keep a list of rare sightings on our farm on the East side of Lincolnshire about ten miles from the coast. So no chasing around he country with the twitchers All on film, Great Grey Shrike, Hoopoe, Flock of Bee Eaters
  3. J

    Crows: why have they not pushed all other urban birds out?

    Interesting about the Goshawk. We have many Carrion Crows here in Lincolnshire on the farm and they are boss of the half dozen or so Buzzards, successfully mobbing them out of harms way. The Carrion is a big old bird and quite strong. I have seen about ten of them on the ground all with their...
  4. J

    Human & Crow try to converse

    I regularly have a conversation with a carrion crow. Every morning I go on a three mile bike ride and he is waiting for me sitting on top of a weeping beech in the middle of our lawn. "Waarrk, Waaarrrk Waaaarrrk" which translated means "Where's my bloody breakfast"! So I talk back "What is...
  5. J

    Extremely weird House Martin behaviour

    Same here in Lincolnshire. Our house has dormer windows and we were woken up by dozens of house martins flying up into the eaves of the dormer. Our bed head goes right up to the window and the birds are only inches away. We looked carefully to see what they might be after but could see no...
  6. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    I am really missing our rooks but they still feed in the same fields on the farm and still roost in a massive roost about a mile from the old rookery. I visited my farming neighbour about three miles away and he is a big shooting man. We were having a coffee in his conservatory with the doors...
  7. J

    Greylag Goose nest on top of tree

    I have managed to put a couple of videos on "TV" under the tags of Greylag/Tree/ Nest/Jackdaw/Thieving. The Greylag's nest really will look a picture when the clematis comes into flower I saw her fly down from the nest and start to graze with her mate in a nearby paddock so I parked the car on...
  8. J

    Greylag Goose nest on top of tree

    Geese see off robbing Jackdaws Today I saw the goose fly down to her mate in a nearby field where they were grazing quietly together. I decided to drive the car onto our lawn and wait for her return. I did not have to wait long as a pair of Jackdaws decided to investigate with bad...
  9. J

    Greylag Goose nest on top of tree

    Interesting! It really does not look right. It is a bit like watching a Lancaster bomber trying to land in Tesco's car park! They make a hell of a din when they fly together up to the nest but the gander carries on and lands in the field nearby. He is often sitting perfectly still in the...
  10. J

    Greylag Goose nest on top of tree

    A pair of Greylag geese have built a nest about twenty feet up on the top of a thorn tree. The thorn tree is in our garden overlooking a small pond. It has a flattish top which is covered with a fine clematis which creates a strong and tight mat for them to build the nest. The surrounding land...
  11. J

    Playtime for Hooded Crows

    This one seems to have taken the game to a new level with its own snowboard! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qxNSbQoasg
  12. J

    Are Great Tits as charming?

    We have several varieties of the tit family. Chickadee sounds a bit more polite! Their full name is really Titmouse. We trained them to take peanuts from our hand one hard Winter and this was an interesting experiment for two reasons Firstly I was able to assess their range as they followed...
  13. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    Ploughing today I was followed by a massive flock of Rooks, Jackdaws, small flock of Starlings making a welcome return, inevitable Black Headed Gulls. But it shows that the Rooks are still coming to their old fields in numbers. The roost is still as busy as ever. I also had a first in my 45...
  14. J

    Rooks and their nests

    As you can see from my thread Bill, I have a similar mystery. Mark Cocker's book "Crow Country" is a good read I have known Rookeries to be shot at every year by gamekeepers taking out the young Rooks but still they nest there every year. There is no shooting on this farm and yet they have up...
  15. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    just remembered that I forgot to follow up this post. I went down there and it was fascinating to watch the gathering at the roost. Unfortunately the light was too bad to capture it on video but apart from the early smaller gatherings in various Ash trees a few hundred yards from the main...
  16. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    Massive gathering of Rooks and Jackdaws over the old Rookery yesterday in the very high winds from the tail end of Storm "Barney". I was cycling along the side road in the morning and watched a Black headed Gull try to cross the road in front of me. Each time it came up from behind the hedge...
  17. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    Went down at 6.00 pm and several hundred Rooks and Jackdaws had started gathering in solitary ash trees about 2-300 yards from the main wood. Every now and then they would take to the air in a noisy display, some swooping around to land back in the tree and others landing on the ground. Then...
  18. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    Thanks for that Mick. I think that I read in Mark Cocker's book or somewhere that indeed Rooks treasure their twigs and have been seen fighting over particularly fine twigs, so I can see why they would find it easier to dismantle a nest rather than have to fly around the place until they find...
  19. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    The rookery is a long way from human habitation apart from me and in a large chalk quarry with tall ash trees. I am within earshot of the Rookery and would always hear if they were disturbed say by people walking a dog (very rare) The size of the nests, generations of twigs, probably over...
  20. J

    I thought the Brits started Wintersports

    Sorry if it has been posted before but it does demonstrate not only a great intelligence but also a great sense of fun after work and love and food have been taken care of! http://youtu.be/uAPrMrma0ug
  21. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    Thank you all for your replies. I have to admit to taking much more interest in the crow family lately. In my youth and ignorance I used to shoot quite a lot and Carrion Crows were a number one target deemed to be egg and chick robbers. I was always fascinated by the fact that when I was out...
  22. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    Stranger and stranger is the Rook saga. Today I was in my garden in the early morning and a huge flock of Rooks were overhead almost static in the strong Westerly wind. Clear skies and sunny. Lots of noise and fooling about and tumbling which I would normally expect to see in Autumn. An early...
  23. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    I forgot to mention that the next door neighbour who just died lived at "Rookery Farm"
  24. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    I have only seen the occasional Red Kite, say once every couple of years. Nothing like the quantity you see on the M40 near Henley. Here in Lincolnshire we see mainly Buzzards but If a raptor was to blame why would the other local Rookeries be thriving? I could understand it more if there had...
  25. J

    Rooks have left the Ancient Rookery

    Thanks for the reply Damian. Just after I posted the second time yesterday a local lad came round to tell me that the next door neighbour farmer and friend had just died on Monday night. Spooked me more than a bit but let's hope that is an end to it. Superstitions taken off google...
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