Rookeries in D&G
Anyone out there able and willing to report on the number of nests in any rookery between the Nith at Dumfries and the Cree at Newton Stewart? I've been surveying rookeries since 1983, to follow rook populations in the old county of Kirkcudbrightsire and have difficulty now in covering such a large area. Dumfries-Shawhead area and Castle Douglas-Dalry areas are a bit neglected by me at the moment. And anything around Dalbeattie. I need occupied nest numbers and the name and grid reference for any site you might cover. In advance many thanks. David H.
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More background provided by David;
As a research committee member of the WMBC (West Midland Bird Club), I was involved with a rook survey in the West Midlands as part of one of its many surveys in the 1970s. When I moved up here (D&G) in 1982, I decided to follow in the footsteps of the 1947 BTO survey carried out in D&G by Sir Arthus Duncan, and the BTO survey of 1975 (?), confining my study to K'brightshire. I also later saw the results of a survey undertaken by the Dumfriesshire Group (can't remember the years offhand) published in the local magazine. So now I have a 40+ year continuous set of data. If I took the population in 1983 as a base line of an index of 100, the years following to around 1995 saw a steady rise to an index of 220 (doubling during those 12 years), and then falling to a low of around 105 by about 2005. Since then the population has increased to about 160 last year.
I have no idea what this relates to but it certainly is not a response to temperature or rainfall (weather data from Laurieston and Threave weather stations) in either the year of breeding or to that of the preceding year. Without looking it up, I vaguely remember that the Dumfriesshire survey linked the population changes, over a much shorter period than mine, to agricultural changes (silage, permanent grass?).
In the past I did the survey annually alone, then an ecological consultant. In the last couple of years, having retired from work in 2017, I have begun to rely on help from a few others - I am now over 80 and not quite so active! - and travel less.
DH
More background provided by David;
As a research committee member of the WMBC (West Midland Bird Club), I was involved with a rook survey in the West Midlands as part of one of its many surveys in the 1970s. When I moved up here (D&G) in 1982, I decided to follow in the footsteps of the 1947 BTO survey carried out in D&G by Sir Arthus Duncan, and the BTO survey of 1975 (?), confining my study to K'brightshire. I also later saw the results of a survey undertaken by the Dumfriesshire Group (can't remember the years offhand) published in the local magazine. So now I have a 40+ year continuous set of data. If I took the population in 1983 as a base line of an index of 100, the years following to around 1995 saw a steady rise to an index of 220 (doubling during those 12 years), and then falling to a low of around 105 by about 2005. Since then the population has increased to about 160 last year.
I have no idea what this relates to but it certainly is not a response to temperature or rainfall (weather data from Laurieston and Threave weather stations) in either the year of breeding or to that of the preceding year. Without looking it up, I vaguely remember that the Dumfriesshire survey linked the population changes, over a much shorter period than mine, to agricultural changes (silage, permanent grass?).
In the past I did the survey annually alone, then an ecological consultant. In the last couple of years, having retired from work in 2017, I have begun to rely on help from a few others - I am now over 80 and not quite so active! - and travel less.
DH
Duncan Irving writes;
The first Rookeries Survey in Dumfriesshire was carried out in 1908 and was organised by Hugh S Gladstone who wrote "The Birds of Dumfriesshire"; 1910. Given that relatively few people had transport to rural areas, the coverage was remarkable.
There have been further counts during the decades since then, and one is in progress now, so there is a substantial databank. The counts are still done based on parishes.
As with David's survey in the Stewartry, the Dumfriesshire population peaked in the early 1990s.
It is a legitimate to question the value of such a project and my own opinion is that better use of the data could be made. I continue to take part in the Dumfriesshire counts in the hope that this will happen and because I enjoy doing them. There is satisfaction in being part of a group effort.
Over the years there have been debates about the effect of Rooks on agriculture and there is little doubt that they do some harm to crops but this may be countered by the benefits they provide. They certainly are persecuted for the bad habits of other corvids for which they are often mistaken. You can learn about this by talking to the people you meet while doing the counts. Your presence may help save a rookery from being shot out.
Apart from all that, you see more birds and other wonders of nature while out counting than when digging the garden.
David's project deserves your support.
Best wishes,
Duncan
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