A Kick in the Rookeries!

Going back to my earliest notebooks, I have always kept a record of rookeries. Up to the end of 2012, I had recorded 96 rookeries in Bedfordshire since moving to the county in 2002. Most had been recorded on journeys around the county by car, so most are visible from a road. I have rarely visited the south-west or north of the county so had few rookeries from those areas. The national survey in 1975 found 201 rookeries in Bedfordshire (Trodd & Kramer 1991) while in fieldwork for the latest atlas (2007-2011) Rooks were confirmed breeding in 179 tetrads, meaning a minimum of 179 rookeries in the county. Several tetrads hold more than one rookery, e.g. TL04B, Stewartby Lake (North) and TL03G, Apsley End Shillington.

 

Prompted by an email on HOSList, the Hampshire equivalent of the BedsBirds email group, I created a google.maps map, plotting the approximate position of all Bedfordshire rookeries that were known to me, including those no longer in use. I included the following extra pieces of information: Ordnance Survey six-figure map reference, year first recorded, tree species, in which nests were built, and 2013 nest count.

 

Many rookeries occupy traditional sites, but for most Bedfordshire rookeries the year first recorded is since 2002 (the year I moved to the county) although many have, undoubtedly, been existence longer than that, e.g. a rookery at Reynold (for which I do not have a map reference, so it is not, yet, included on the google.map ) has been occupied for at least 40 years (Bedfordshire Bird Report 2007).

 

In 1975 48% of rookeries in Bedfordshire were in Elm trees but following the loss of these trees to Dutch Elm Disease rooks nested predominantly in oak, ash, sycamore, beech and horse chestnut (Trodd and Kramer 1991). Given the variety of diseases that seem to be afflicting various trees e.g. acute oak decline disease, poplar scab and ash tree die back, it seemed an opportune time to determine which trees are used by Rooks for their rookeries. However, I have found it more difficult to identify trees in their ‘winter plumage’ than I had anticipated and so will try and re-visit at least some of the rookeries once the trees are in leaf.

 

I published the google.map via the BedsBirds email group and subsequently, with the help of other BedsBirders have added another 30 or so rookeries. As of 09/04/2013, the locations of 128 rookeries have been mapped. Counts for all bar 11 of these have been received for this year, giving a total, so far,  of 2899 nests. Seven rookeries used in previous years seem to be unused this year. Rookeries have been recorded in 99 tetrads suggesting there are at least 80 rookeries so far unmapped. A copy of the map, as of 09/04/2013, is shown. The red pins are rookeries no longer in use.  The up-to-date version can be viewed at:

 

http://tinyurl.com/BedsRookeries2013

 

Bedfordshire Bird Reports since 1995 mention a further 28 rookeries for which I do not have an exact location, some of which may be duplicates for known rookeries.

If you would like to help identifying the location of the above rookeries, supplying details of new rookeries or adding extra details to rookeries on the map, please email me or BedsBirds.

 

Thanks to Dave Anderson, Bob Hook, Judith Knight, Dave Kramer, Darren Oakley-Martin for already supplying additional information and special thanks to Jenny Hicks for joining me on rookery patrols.

 

First published in The Hobby 127: 9 - 11