Jackdaws and Night Walks

On Autumn watch one of the aspects of wildlife behaviour that was looked at was that of Rooks. In the autumn the juvenile birds gather together in quite large flocks. I was aware of this behaviour not least because there had been a radio programme on the topic by the author of a book on the topic, as well as my own reading.

Lots of young birds will gather together in large flocks in winter, the Red Kites do this, and there is a bus stop on a particular estate where in winter it is possible to watch numbers of the Kites gather before going off to roost. I have been there before, and I will again this year soon. However, there were aspects of the Rooks behaviour revealed in the programme that seemed to answer the questions I have regarding the Jackdaws locally.

I have previously mentioned that there are times when the jackdaws seem to take to the air for what seems to be just the joy of flying. Well on Thursday as I had to go to the supermarket and near the bus stop is a good location for watching the Jackdaws. While waiting I saw exactly what had been described the previous night. These young birds are displaying to each other, partly this is to tell each other the location of food, but also the males are displaying to the females part of a long winter long courtship.

The aspect of crow family behaviour though that is relatively newly discovered is that the birds communicate the location of food. As all Crows are carrion eaters, it is by communicating the location of an animal cadaver that all members of the Crow family use shear numbers to win the prize. I have seen a flock of crows drive off a fox from a dead sheep.

While I was already thinking along these lines, what I saw among the Jackdaws mirrored the behaviour of Ravens. I hope to go and film them doing just this over the next couple of weeks.
I also needed to go into Consett to get some other shopping on Friday. But because of my late night filming of the palmate newt, I ended up running about two hours late on Friday. So while I did get everything done that I needed, the one task that was delayed was getting some washing done. Therefore I added some boxers to my shopping list. Anyway, I still had time to confirm my observations of the Jackdaws while I waited for the bus. I also saw that there was a Red Kite rising on the thermals to the south. It must have reached three thousand feet before it flew off to the south west.

When I had got most of my shopping, I was looking at the time, and realising that I would not catch the bus back that hour, there is only one bus per hour, I thought I would get a coffee. So I headed for a decent café. As I turned the corner, I stopped as I saw a Red Kite. This is the first time I have seen one over Consett. As I had stopped where I was blocking the path, a man had to ask me to move. I apologised and explained that I was watching the Kite. Well in no time at all there was a crowed of about twenty people all watching this bird. Several were saying its the first time they had seen one, and others were saying it was the first time they had seen one over Consett.

Among the items that I got was some new thermal long-Johns. It was rather amusing as the shop where I got them, the two women ahead of me were buying lingerie and when I got served I said to the woman that she had just served two people buying sexy underwear then she has me buying passion killers. Well I left her with a smile on her face.

Its probably a good job that I am single with my dress sense. Anyway, I want to meet a woman that knows how to use a chainsaw, now that's my type of woman.

But I digress, as I was running late I did not have much time to do anything when I got home, but change and get ready to go out.

On Wednesday it had been Bonfire night, but as it had been a rather dank and damp night there had been little disturbance from fireworks. I normally suffer from multiple injections every time there is a loud bang. However, I was expecting there to be much happening on Friday night as it was forecast to be the only clear and dry night. Therefore I headed to the other side of the wood, to see if I could see if the Fireworks were causing any disturbance to the wildlife.

I had intended to get there before dusk, but it was dark before I got there. Therefore, I had to proceed with greater care. I am glad that I did as I was tripped up by something. When I looked it was a snare that someone had set. It was intended for Rabbits and not a mouse, but the wire had caught my boot. After checking me over, and my camera, all fine, I searched and found four more. I destroyed all of them. As well as being illegal, they are indiscriminate and can catch other wildlife as well as dogs or wandering naturalists.

The effect of the fireworks seems to be that the wildlife just stayed quite and in the shadows. Normally I will see or hear something, but last night I saw nor heard anything.

I really enjoy walking through the woods in the dark.

Just a quick note as I sit here using this electronic quill I am seeing a Red Kite!

As I was saying I really enjoy walking at night in the woods, while the shadows and sounds can make it an queer place, all the sounds are natural. Also with the moon at half full it does provide quite a bit of illumination. I have been asked how do I keep to the paths, well all I need to do is look up at the gap between the tree tops. As long as there is sky above me then I know I am still following the track. But if the sky is above my feet, well I think that indicates that I have fallen over. That and the coating of mud.

I did stop for an hour here and an hour there, to watch and wait to see what came along, but I really did not see anything. And while I did hear some rustling here and there, it seemed to just be the leaves dancing in the breeze rather than animals aboard. One of the aspects that was rather delightful was that as I walked I had a steady shower of leaves floating down on me, making it rather magical.

When I got home I was not cold but very tired and hungry, I was so pleased that I had a pan of soup ready for me. It was just a shame that the cat had not bothered to warm it up for me.