Rooks
One of the astounding natural features of this part of the world is the sheer number of large black birds. I have usually heard them called crows but I am pretty sure they are rooks (Corvus frugilegus). It is another of the ‘jokes’ of Father Ted that I have found to be at least partly true and the image of Father Jack having his glasses stolen by a crow, to be part of its nest, is obviously based on fact!
The rooks build nests all around here but, for some reason, they gather in the next field, wandering about in huge numbers and on the telegraph wires just before dusk for about an hour and then fly, in large groups, one after the other, to circle around the valley for about five minutes, before they fly off to roost in the nearby woods. They do the same thing every evening. It is truly a wonder of nature to see many thousands of birds every evening, the dimming sky almost black with their wings and the ears assaulted by their loud ‘caws’.
I need to work out how to load videos because that would give a much better impression of just how amazing this is.
The Biking Gardener 
our walnuts are disappearing at a alarming rate those rooks caw caw around the tree and back to those fields with their prize and we have the added bonus of squirrels this year lol but yes Geoff those photos you took are brilliant and its harvest time for the rooks to
I am sorry to hear about the squirrels. I have been planting bulbs today so I hope the ‘tree rats’ stay away from here.
I was looking on line they don’t like garlic spray or owls but I think that’s just fighting a losing battle . I forgot about bulbs have just bought some for planting at weekend
The trouble is that garlic spray has to be reapplied frequently and owls will keep you awake at night! Buy a big bag of chilli flakes and scatter some on the planted areas (and add them to your bird food) because squirrels do not like chillies – as long as you don’t have Mexican squirrels 🙂
We had them nesting in the pines in the field outside the garden and they would spend hours on the bare soil of the garden, before it was cultivated, pecking for insects. I used to quite enjoy listening to them and watching them build nests with huge sticks.
they certainly are entertaining!
will try that thank you