On 29/2/08 23:31, in article ,
"Mogga" wrote:

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:05:29 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

They're definitely nest building. One is in an ash tree visible from my
study window. It tweaks off twigs and flies off with them to my study
chimney!
I'd forgotten this charming but destructive habit of theirs!

Are they better than magpies? Watched a pair a few years ago pile
masses of long twigs into a heap in a tree and then it all fell out.
It was a pretty impressive pile of sticks by the time they'd finished.

We don't have magpies in this garden. They're a mile or two away and they
visit occasionally but are discouraged. The jackdaws seem to be fairly
successful but the rooks are amazing to watch and so inefficient it would
make you weep! They fly up to a spinney at the top of the field behind us,
take some twigs and fly back to the rookery at the bottom of our garden.
Having watched this with fascination for some time one year, I know now from
the birdwatching group, that the female carries the twig back and the
accompanying male, who doesn't sully his beak with anything at all, merely
rides shotgun to make sure she isn't diverted into a little extra-marital
sex on the way! She flies back to the roosting site and - sometimes -
places the twig successfully. All too often, it falls to the ground but
does she swoop down to pick it up and try again? No. She lumbers back -
with escort - to the same spinney and starts all over again. I am perfectly
serious that there are times during their nesting season when watching them
do this is reminiscent of those old war films in which you see waves of
aircraft chunter overhead. They go back and forth with such amazing
dedication and determination that we can only wonder at it. So, at the end
of the rook nest building season, we end up with amazing numbers of twigs on
the big lawn, some on a side path and a truly incredible amount of noise as
they all squabble for good nesting sites. This year, because our rooks have
lost 3 macrocarpa in the neighbouring churchyard, the competition for nests
is much more intense and they must surely be looking for other nest sites.
They seem to like conifers but above all, they seem to like communities so
some of ours are now nesting in and slowly killing off, a copper beech.
They are fascinating.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'