Rookery.

 The Rooks are returning early every morning from their night roost at Bradford Peveral to the leafless Horse Chestnut outside my bedroom window. Although there were half a dozen of last year's nests at the beginning of the year most of these have now been dimantled, with only half a nest to go. The birds will soon start to break off new sticks to build their new nests, but not from this tree,

    Early Morning Rooks. Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

 

 

The Same Rooks Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

A closer view reveals that some of the birds are already paired up, ready to go. The two single birds are sat where there were nests last year. Will they get new mates this year? We will have to wait and see.
 

Poorly Sparrowhawk.

I reported the sickly Sparrowhawk (see bellow) and received a very comprehensive reply:-

 

Garden Wildlife Health Advice

Mon 10 Feb at 11:47

Dear John,

Many thanks for taking the time to report to Garden Wildlife Health via the GBW Health tab, helping us to learn more about the diseases affecting British wildlife. We’re sorry to hear that you have observed this sparrowhawk showing such signs of ill health.

If you are concerned about the welfare of this bird, you could consider calling the RSPCA (0300 1234 999), your local veterinary surgeon or wildlife rehabilitation centre, as they should be able to advise further.

Unfortunately, we can’t speculate on a diagnosis without performing an examination on this sparrowhawk, and there are various infectious or non-infectious conditions that could be involved here. In lieu of a diagnosis on this occasion, and if this is of interest, please see our disease factsheet library on our website, which provides information on some of the common diseases we see in garden wildlife.

  It is important to be aware that there are several possible causes of ill health and death in garden wildlife, such as salmonellosis, which, whilst the risks are low, have the potential to cause ill health in humans and pets, so we always recommend following good hygiene precautions, such as not handling sick and dead wildlife directly and washing your hands thoroughly after handling wildlife/carcasses.

  I hope this information is helpful and please do keep on reporting your observations to us so that we can continue to improve our understanding of the disease conditions affecting British garden wildlife.

  Once again thank you for your support of our project, we greatly appreciate your help. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries.

Kind regards,

 Sarah

  

Sarah Haddow

BSc (Hons), MRes, BVetMed, MRCVS

Wildlife Veterinarian | Research Associate
Institute of Zoology | Zoological Society of London

Garden Wildlife Health Tel: +44- 20-7449-6685

Follow us on twitter @wildlife_health and @ZSLScience

www.gardenwildlifehealth.org

Sparrowhawk.

 My usual view of a Sparrowhawk is usually a very short one as it dashes through the gap between my house and next door to try and catch one of the many House Sparrows that come to feed in my wildlife garden. Yesterday was different. 

 

  Female Sparrowhawk. Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

An unusually marked, somewhat bedraggled, female Sparrowhawk sat on the bird table from early morning until about 2 pm. The scraps and seed remained untouched, as did the other patches of seed in the garden. These usually disappear in ten minutes or so, scoffed by the half dozen Rooks, perhaps four or five Jackdaws, a couple of Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons, plus a lot of House Sparrows, (see below), but not one of these birds appeared, not even the Rooks which are usually very aggressive towards birds of prey. Its fluffy appearance and lack of fear when I went out to photograph it are indications that it wasn't at all well, as is the fact that it took a short break mid morning and flew into the hedge bottom for a while, which is where many birds go to die. It finally disappeared after lunch and at once all my usual feeding birds arrived.