Almost a month ago me and Magnus checked every tree in the area to try and find all active crow nest within the reserve. Many hours of work were put in and 36 nests were found. This week many of these nests have been climbed to so that the chicks can be ringed. Some of the nest however are not climbable and so we will check these in early June when hopefully we can see large youngsters hanging over the edges of the nests. Many of the trees look un-climbable at first but with the aid of a special tree ladder the job was straight forward.
Climbing with help from the “Crow Ladder”. Basically scaffolding poles with steps on (that fit together with screws) the top section has a wide hook on it to loop over large branches. Very strong and moderately light weight.
Above is a picture of some large Hooded crow youngsters that have just been ringed… Adopting the “If I sit still, you can’t see me. Right?” approach. A real pleasure to ring. I really must also get a special ladder made. I feel many more nests can be reached with the aid of this.
Apologies for the quick post with barely any detail. I’m tired, busy and up early tomorrow… Hopefully I will pin down the Honey Buzzards’ nest nearby. I keep seeing the adults from my front door!!!
I’ll post a proper update soon.
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